We all know that fakes are getting better all the time, and indeed so good are the newest fakes that I honestly wouldn't buy a WAY Aquaracer from eBay no matter how good the price was. But amazingly, eBay and in particular YouTube are still littered with bad fakes, fakes so bad you don't even need to compare or look for original images to check up.
#1. Eiffel Tower watches: I don't know where or why this started, but TAG Heuer have NEVER made a watch with the Eiffel Tower on the dial. I mean, why the hell would they? And yet these ridiculous looking things are so prevalent on You Tube! Of course I feel compelled to leave comments on their videos informing them of their 'mistake' and they always come back to me with either 'This is AAAAAA copy' or 'Of course it exists, look at all the other videos on YouTube!'. Yes, all the other videos posted by people selling equally fake 'Eiffel Tower' dial watches... unbelievable.
These seem particularly popular in India for some reason, the prices all seem to be in Rupees and if you Google TAG Heuer Eiffel Tower Watch you will find numerous India based websites selling them...
Example video:
#2. CR7 Carreras: Simply put, there are no CR7 Carreras. CR7, if you are not aware, was only used on one TAG Heuer watch, which was a black and green limited edition Formula 1 made for Cristiano Ronaldo (hence the CR7) in a run of 3000 pieces. But yet again, these things are an epidemic! Actually, as bogus fakes go these are actually quite interesting looking... but still, they are utterly fake and do not mimic any genuine TAG Heuer model. Again I feel compelled to leave comments which garner much the same responses as the Eiffel Tower pieces.
Example video:
#3. Grand Carreras with solid casebacks: These can be the most convincing of the three, since on the surface they are pretty decent fakes and because they are actually copies of a model that genuinely did exist. But the simple truth is that no genuine Grand Carrera ever left the TAG Heuer factory with anything other than a clear display caseback (split into two) and whatever eBay sellers might tell you, that is indisputable. I recently left a comment on a YouTube video (linked to an eBay sale) and was told that I did not know what I was talking about. I'm not sure if the seller honestly believed this or not, but it doesn't change the fact that he was talking out of his hat! And, actually... after a couple more people added similar comments he changed his tune and took the video down - but not the eBay sale!
Example video:
It's quite depressing how many YouTube videos there are of these fakes, I search YouTube every week for TAG Heuer videos and I would say 30% or more of the videos on there are obvious fakes.
So, there we are - three kinds of fakes that are obvious to those who know, but worth pointing out for the casual buyer. Don't forget, if you see something on eBay but you're not sure about it, it's always worth posting a question on the Calibre 11 forum to get a second opinion:
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