Brushed mid case looks like the most obvious tell. Other stuff, like slightly off front on day and date or ever so slightly off chrono dial size would hardly be noticed in real life.
If you haven't tried to brush ss yourself, you might not know this: The brushed mid case would be a super easy fix. I'm no watchsmith expert, but I bet I could do a competant job on the brushing in an hour or so which includes taking the movement & pushers out so I could get it all even around the pushers.
I was all set to buy right before cny, but I waited too long.
I do think I will give the brushing a try.
@spursian Is the entire case brushed or just the sides of the case. It looks like the surfaces that are visible from the top, like the top of the lugs, are polished in both the gen and rep. It is a little hard to be sure as it is super hard to take great pics of this sort of thing...