Is my Gold Gucci Watch a fake?

Is my Gold Gucci watch a fake?
The House of Gucci is an Italian fashion label established in 1921 by Guccio Gucci in Florence. Upmarket, select and ultra chic, the quality and style of Gucci is known the world over. As well as fashion and leather goods, most notably handbags, Gucci have produced a selection of watches since 1997.

Gucci watches come in three types; bracelet watches, automatic watches and quartz watches. They may be made from yellow gold, white gold or stainless steel and sometime incorporate other materials including diamonds and leather. The gold watches are gold plated with 18-carat gold on stainless steel.

A quick scan on line will show that you can buy cheap “Gucci “replica watches many originating from China and Hong Kong. In many cases, these are quite openly replicas so that you can get the look of Gucci without spending a fortune.

However if you wish to buy a genuine new Gucci watch, they are only available direct from Gucci, their on line store, authorized boutiques or select department stores. Before you start looking, you should check out the Gucci website to see designs, current styles and prices. A gold plated Gucci watch will cost around £600 but prices vary according to design and model.

New Gucci watches are not available anywhere else for rock bottom prices because Gucci are very selective with their retailers.

The danger point is in the second hand market and here you need to be careful.
So how can you tell the difference between a genuine gold Gucci watch and a fake? After all a fake Gucci gold watch is really only a fake if it is passed off as the real thing – especially on auction sites such as eBay

Genuine Gucci watches are only made in Switzerland so if your watch is engraved“Made in Italy” it is certainly a fake. The watches are the only Gucci items not produced in Italy a fact that many counterfeiters do not realise.

Gucci watches always have a crest logo engraved on the back of the watch face. However, the insignias and logos located on the back of authentic Gucci watches vary with each season and watch design.

Each genuine Gucci watch has a model number and serial number stamped on the back. The numbers are not available to check on line but you can try taking it to a reputable jewellers to check.

All new Gucci watches are sold with a box and certificate. Can you really imagine anyone throwing this away or losing it when it comes to selling?

Gucci have only been making watches since 1997 so if you are offered an antique Gucci watch it will not be genuine.

Most fake Guccis use cheaper materials and are lighter in weight than the genuine article.

A very important point to remember is that just because Gucci is a well-known make, the price of their watches may not be as much as you think. Certainly on eBay it is not uncommon to see second hand (or dubious) Gucci watches going for more than the recommended retail price

Is my gold rolex a fake?

Identify Gold and silver hallmarks

How to Spot Fake Roman Coins at online Auctions

As many as 30 - 40 % of ancient coins sold on ebay, at the moment, are modern fakes.
There are a lot of  fake or reproduction coins on ebay at any given time.
The problem is how to spot them. The decent people who are selling them will let you know if they are fakes or copies, 

Read The description carefully
If the item description says things like "I think it's Silver", or "Silver/nickle" then be aware that silver roman coins were only made from silver.
If the description reads something like "Selling off my grandfathers collection he purchased some years ago". Then check the items carefully and ask questions as this can sometimes be a dubious description

As regards reproduction coins the better sellers will mark this in the listing but if you read something like
"There's writing round the edge, I think it's Roman" then ask questions.

Check the pictures
The letters WRL stamped  somewhere on the coin tells you it's a genuine reproduction.
"WRL" is Westair Reproductions Ltd. They are based in Birmingham, UK. People often buy these known replicas's as "space fillers" filling in the gaps of Emperor's etc in their collection until they can buy the genuine coin. They are also sold in museums as souvenirs and are often bought for schools to help with Roman studies.

Check for the word "copy" stamped somewhere on the coin, normally on the reverse. This seems obvious but can be overlooked in an auction as the stamping can be very small. Some times you will see a tiny letter "r" stamped on the reverse of the coin. The letter R stands for reproduction., this obviously tells you the coin is a modern reproduction, as does a tiny letter "R" stamped on the coin, again, usually the reverse. Some modern replica coins also have a letter 'S' stamped on them, again it is normally to the reverse of the coin, and the letter 'S' is snake like in appearence.

If you see the words REMO NEDA stamped on the outside of the coin then this also tells you that the coin is a modern copy. Some fake coins have no markings on them at all to tellyou they are fake so unfortunately the only way to gain experience in this is to handle as many coins as possible to guauge the true age of the coin you are interested in.

Check the sellers ID
Sometimes coins are made from moulds taken from a genuine coin. These will all have the same wear and scratch and wear marks on them making them look too similar. beware of private user IDs and coin sellers selling amazing low offer coins for £9.99 over and over again. If you see this and want to check the seller out then you will need to have a long look at the sellers feedback.

Sometimes coins are made from moulds taken from a genuine coin. These will all have the same wear and scratch and wear marks on them making them look too similar. beware of private user IDs and coin sellers selling amazing low offer coins for £9.99 over and over again. If you see this and want to check the seller out then you will need to have a long look at the sellers feedback.