The below examples of frankens are to make the point that you always need to do your own research, even when purchasing from well-known auction houses or dealers. I fully appreciate that auction houses have an incredibly difficult job in vetting every piece that comes in their door. And I don’t expect specialists at auction houses, or dealers, to have the depth of knowledge on every piece that you can find on forums. For specific pieces, absolutely, but it would be impossible for them to be as knowledgeable about every piece as the most knowledgeable community member (or group researching together) focused on that piece.
Eric Wind, in a Waiting List podcast, said he “see[s] a lot of bad watches pass through auction houses – as in, watches that have been altered, have very distinct restoration that maybe the auction house is not aware of, remember the expertise at the auction houses in my opinion is not always the best as they are constrained by compensation… Some people feel a false sense of security that if you buy an auction from a big auction house you are safe, but many times the most sophisticated restoration that is undisclosed happens in watches that go through auction… If you think you can go to this auction house and spend millions of dollars and I’ll be okay, it’s equivalent to having a sign on your back that says ‘Rip Me Off.'” (Waiting List podcast, Episode #55 20:15)
Swapped parts aren’t necessarily a bad thing, provided it is called out in the description of the piece. There can be some honest mistakes, but if you spend a lot of time reading watch descriptions, you’ll find that an inordinate amount of the time the seller and/or auction house description is clearly intentionally ambiguous or untruthful.
As examples I would recommend forum discussions around an Omega 2913 FAP, a fake Dayona “Solo”, fake Rolex papers, and following perezcope on instagram to learn what to watch for around Panerais (you may not be a Panerai collector, but it will open your eyes to the world of fakes).
What I believe is required listening for EVERYONE as perspectives of value:
– Dialed In, EP 34: What is The Cost of Truth?: King Flum (@kingflum on instagram)
– Dialed In, EP 20: The Dark Reality Behind the Watch Industry: Jose Pereztroika (@perezcope on instagram)
If you have additional examples beyond the below, feel free to drop me a line.
On with the examples of bad pieces and/or misleading descriptions (in alphabetical order).
Antiquorum:
- A listing of Vintage Rolex Daytonas from hell at Antiquorum from perezcope. This is a great introduction to misrepresented watches that can appear at auction, and includes a Rolex 6265, Rolex 6263 (2 examples), Rolex 6240 (2), Rolex 6239 (2), Rolex 6264, and Rolex 5510 from July 16, 17, 19, 2018
- Antiquorum sold this fake Rolex Daytona 6262 for CHF 40,000 in June 2020 [@perezcope].
- Rolex Daytona 6239 with lots of wrong parts.
- Hilariously bad Photoshop of an El Primero
- Heuer 3646 airbrushing
- The Garibaldi ‘Ship of Fools’ (Panerai) that was pulled from sale
- A fake aluminium “prototype” GPF 2/56
- Antiquorum auction of a fake “Heuer”
- Antiquorum and the the Monaco Legend Group presented Rolexes with swapped dials and frankens
- Seamaster 2943
- A franken Omega Constellation with the commonly used 091919 case number for fakes.
Auctionata (no more):
- ‘Another fake from the Antiquorum Crew’
- A “Franken” Autavia for 62,000 Euro
- Heuer 1163v with wrong hands, pushers, crown, and bezel
- ‘Garbage Offered for Sale by Auctionata’
- ‘Last Chapter of “Pass the Trash”‘
Bonhams:
- Skipperera photoshopping. Maybe it’s simply too tempting not to make that Skipperera blue pop…
- What’s up with this Heuer Jarama from Bonhams?
- Seamaster XVI
Christie’s:
- This blatant Photoshopping of a Heuer Skipperera is unacceptable. Here’s hoping someone thought the gouges in the dial were dust marks on the glass they were trying to remove!
- A questionable Omega 2915-1
- Discussion of Speedmasters and an incorrect Omega Seamaster 300 from their Spring 2015 auction.
Phillips:
- A Heuer GH381 (and then to eBay via goldsmith55) with a service dial, and care to swap index markers from silver to gold, in the wrong case.
- Fake Rolex Solo 6239 (serial 1079777). The comments section of the above instagram link are a good introduction to this world of collecting.
- This Rolex Daytona 16520 with Beyer signature…well, the signature is not from Beyer (as confirmed by…Beyer!)
- A put-together Omega 2913 in their Geneva Watch Auction: SIX (2017). The auction text states, “The present example is preserved in most attractive and original condition.” Nothing wrong with improving a watch, you just have to let the prospective buyers know! For a good read on spotting correct 300 CK2913 bezels, check out jackwongyf’s tips on instagram.
- The $3.7M Rolex Oyster Paul Newman Daytona 6263 from Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: FIVE (2017), otherwise known as “The Legend“, which has a “non-original dial“, and whose “officious, dodgy provenance is well known to the vintage Rolex community“. See comments from poster Clavi at bottom of that page in the ‘Comments’ section.
- You would never have known that the “Unicorn” wasn’t all-original from reading Hodinkee’s fawning, Phillips’ press releases, or the Condition Report. But after news leaked about the Unicorn history (Goldberger earlier had deferred on any discussion of the background of the watch), Phillips was forced to post a last minute article, days in advance of the auction (however, only posted on their website, with no update on the Condition Report nor with no update on Hodinkee…and we don’t ever expect Hodinkee to write on something like this, though you can read quite a bit in the comment section). Goldberger says in the interview for that article, “there were several replaced parts that bothered me. I searched the world for the right components, sparing no expense, to restore it to its original glory.” So this Rolex, with an original case, but with replaced dial, hands, pushers, crown, crystal, bracelet and no provenance, sold for $5.9m. Please listen to the ‘Dialed In’ podcast, EP 34: What is The Cost of Truth?: King Flum starting at 6:30 minutes for a recap of the series of events.
Oh well, at least some of the proceeds went to a children’s charity. If the watch actually sold, that is.
Years later Perezcope wrote an article that recaps the sale of the frakenwatch. - Blaming the McQueen family (c’mon, seriously?!), Phillips pulls the Loren James’ Submariner based upon detailed research into its history.
Patrizzi (no more):
- On how an incredibly large number of pieces were withdrawn from a “Heuer Only” auction
Sotheby’s: