So much of the joy in watch collecting comes from the hunt, pursuing the rarest and most interesting horological oddities from around the world – but rarity can often be a double-edged sword. In the case of Phillips auction house, a rare so-called “double signed” Rolex Daytona with an alleged fake dial stamp from the Swiss retailer Beyer has been sold for close to US$100,000 (AU$144,251), more than three times its value had the dial stamp not been present.
If you’re wondering what a double-signed watch is, here’s a quick summary (or if you’re really curious, this is a great in-depth resource). In decades gone by, brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe would allow their most important retailers to feature their own logo alongside that of the watchmaker, resulting in the much-hyped 2021 Tiffany & Co Patek Philippe Nautilus, but also dozens of other references, with timepieces from Rolex featuring the logos of Cartier, Tiffany & Co and others.
In recent years, the interest in double-signed watches has skyrocketed as collectors searched for increasingly rare examples of popular models, while also falling in love with the history lesson of watch industry relationships that each timepiece offers. Where there are vast sums of money involved, however, so too come the less scrupulous. When you can multiply the value of a watch by simply adding a stamp to the dial in the correct place, it’s understandable that some have found the possible fortune too irresistible to ignore.
RELATED: How To Spot A Fake Rolex: A Comprehensive Guide On Sidestepping The Fugazis
Horological provocateur and investigator Jose Pereztroika recently published a blog post about the Rolex Daytona in question, which he identified as having first been sold by Phillips in late 2018 in Hong Kong, before it resurfaced at the auction house’s ready-to-buy boutique Phillips Perpetual in May 2021. After having his interest in Beyer-signed watches piqued, Pereztroika started to question the authenticity of Beyer-signed Rolex watches made after the 1950s, so he reached out to Beyer directly to ask about the Rolex Daytona from 1992 that Phillips sold.
Translated from German, their response was unambiguous:
“I can confirm that we sold a stainless steel Rolex Daytona with the reference and serial number, but certainly not with our signature on the dial. It has been “added” somewhere else.”
There’s been no comment from Phillips about the watch in question and as separate verification directly from Rolex isn’t possible due to their policy on authenticating vintage watches, we are not confirming this Rolex Daytona has been definitively proven as having a fake Beyer signature. However, the evidence doesn’t look good at all and leaves questions that could be answered about the level of due diligence undertaken by Phillips before consigning a watch.
What this story does confirm is that collecting blue-chip vintage watches can be an absolute minefield when it comes to verifying authenticity, especially in the case of Rolex (Patek Philippe, in comparison, will provide collectors excerpts from its archive to confirm original details of a watch). The best advice is always to “buy the seller,” as reputation is worth its weight in gold when it comes to the watch dealing game.
