Heres the story - was eye balling a Tank solo large for a long time - looked into reps first, never got one, decided to buy a second hand gen on c24. Seller had 10 transactions. 1,600$ LNIB condition.
Came with box and papers - "older style cartier box with white lining. Watch was stamped as a 2015 model in the bookelet. - Seller said he purchased the watch at an estate sale among a few other pieces at the same time. Said he had a local watch dealer replace the battery and strap after purchasing it as the original strap "had signs of wear".
First red flag is the printing in the booklets looks rough and not high quality. Like it was done on a cheap printer 10 years ago. Although the paper is relatively thick and not a flimsy book, the pictures look crap. I have a gen Rolex OP39 and the gen box and papers is leaps and bounds better than the one i got in my Cartier.
Secondly - the watch was advertised as unworn condition - which the case was pristine - no hairlines even, but the seller said he swapped the strap with a new strap - which i know is a common thing to do with reps - throw a gen strap on and call it a day.
Thirdly the Cabochon shape is pointer than the majority of tank solos i can find out there. From my research, it seemed that was a tell for the ZF because it was pointier and less round than the Gen. Mine is definitely more cone shaped than the one I saw at the AD and from what i can see on Cartiers website.
I asked the seller to provide his invoice for the watch purchase and his servicing, and he said he was not able to itemize them because he bought and serviced a few watches at once at the estate sale.
I brought the watch into my AD today to check it out - and he said it looked good to him - but of course i knew 10x as much as the rep. He was saying things like "oh yeah its got the cartier at 7 o'clock." He was literally useless and suggested to have them put an new battery in so the in house watch maker could examine the movement and pressure test (50$)... or send my watch to the Ben Bridge HQ to have an appraisal done on the watch. (would take about 4 weeks and cost 150$). They said thats the only way to verify authenticity.
He also suggested I call cartier and ask them if there were any modifications to the cabochon/crown over the years. I contacted them and i have a guy looking into it for me.
All this to say - I contacted the seller and he said hes willing to do a full refund on the watch if i want. He has been very understanding and professional. He even reimbursed me 150$ because I told him i was going to send it into Ben Bridge HQ to get appraised and he wanted to cover the expense.
What do you guys think? To me... the dial looks gen - spend hours comparing to K11 and AF/ZF reps, but the cabochon and the crap papers are taking me for a loop.
What are your thoughts on the Cabochon and the crap printing on the papers? - Also noticed that the back engraving looks high quality under magnification - but it looks like its laser printed instead of being engraved. - is this a tell?
Would really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions as to what to do next. If its real, id love to keep it for the price i paid, figured id start here before taking another step.
Came with box and papers - "older style cartier box with white lining. Watch was stamped as a 2015 model in the bookelet. - Seller said he purchased the watch at an estate sale among a few other pieces at the same time. Said he had a local watch dealer replace the battery and strap after purchasing it as the original strap "had signs of wear".
First red flag is the printing in the booklets looks rough and not high quality. Like it was done on a cheap printer 10 years ago. Although the paper is relatively thick and not a flimsy book, the pictures look crap. I have a gen Rolex OP39 and the gen box and papers is leaps and bounds better than the one i got in my Cartier.
Secondly - the watch was advertised as unworn condition - which the case was pristine - no hairlines even, but the seller said he swapped the strap with a new strap - which i know is a common thing to do with reps - throw a gen strap on and call it a day.
Thirdly the Cabochon shape is pointer than the majority of tank solos i can find out there. From my research, it seemed that was a tell for the ZF because it was pointier and less round than the Gen. Mine is definitely more cone shaped than the one I saw at the AD and from what i can see on Cartiers website.
I asked the seller to provide his invoice for the watch purchase and his servicing, and he said he was not able to itemize them because he bought and serviced a few watches at once at the estate sale.
I brought the watch into my AD today to check it out - and he said it looked good to him - but of course i knew 10x as much as the rep. He was saying things like "oh yeah its got the cartier at 7 o'clock." He was literally useless and suggested to have them put an new battery in so the in house watch maker could examine the movement and pressure test (50$)... or send my watch to the Ben Bridge HQ to have an appraisal done on the watch. (would take about 4 weeks and cost 150$). They said thats the only way to verify authenticity.
He also suggested I call cartier and ask them if there were any modifications to the cabochon/crown over the years. I contacted them and i have a guy looking into it for me.
All this to say - I contacted the seller and he said hes willing to do a full refund on the watch if i want. He has been very understanding and professional. He even reimbursed me 150$ because I told him i was going to send it into Ben Bridge HQ to get appraised and he wanted to cover the expense.
What do you guys think? To me... the dial looks gen - spend hours comparing to K11 and AF/ZF reps, but the cabochon and the crap papers are taking me for a loop.
What are your thoughts on the Cabochon and the crap printing on the papers? - Also noticed that the back engraving looks high quality under magnification - but it looks like its laser printed instead of being engraved. - is this a tell?
Would really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions as to what to do next. If its real, id love to keep it for the price i paid, figured id start here before taking another step.
