A. Lange & Sohne watches are impressively built which makes them difficult for counterfeiters to replicate. Here are our tips to quickly spot a fake A. Lange & Sohne watch when shopping for a pre-owned timepiece.

Review Quality and Spot Red Flags

Like all luxury watchmakers, A. Lange & Sohne invests in the production and quality of its timepieces. Their watches are crafted with expensive and high-quality materials and are thoroughly vetted after a rigorous inspection. Therefore, a counterfeiter’s sloppy mistakes and shortcuts stand in sharp contrast to a genuine A. Lange & Sohne watch.

First off, an authentic A. Lange & Sohne timepiece should feel heavy in your hand. The premium and precious metals used in production translates to a weighty watch. Meanwhile, fake A. Lange & Sohne watches are oftentimes made with inexpensive and lightweight materials. Secondly, inspect all the engravings for any spelling errors or messy lines. If you see either, that is an immediate signal the watch is a fake. Also look out for any adhesive residue. A. Lange & Sohne never uses glue on their watches, so if you spot any kind of gum on the item in question, it’s certainly a forged watch.

If you’re shopping online and unable to visit the seller in person, study the listing’s images. A counterfeit watch may be slightly off from a genuine A. Lange & Sohne design; most commonly the watch’s the hands or minute markers are a different shape or color than the authentic timepiece.

Research Seller Information

Before you hit “Purchase Now” on a seller’s site, you want to research the online seller as thoroughly as possible. There are certain warning signs that the watch dealer is not credible. First, confirm their location, which should be listed clearly on their website. If they do not have any address posted, that is a point of concern.

Read through their website. Does the seller have an About Us page? Are there terms and conditions listed on the page? If the website feels incomplete or keeps leading to dead or Error 404 pages, you should probably look elsewhere for your A. Lange & Sohne watch.

Also, comb through reviews and web forums to see if the seller is mentioned. Look out for reviews or comments that seem suspiciously similar or are vague and terse. These posts may have been written by the seller themselves. Alternatively, if there is little information on the seller, there is a chance the seller is a counterfeiter who works under different pseudonyms or websites to evade suspicion and confuse investigating shoppers.

Compare Prices

The adage “too good to be true” certainly applies to pre-owned A. Lange & Sohne watches’ price tags. If you happen across a seemingly legitimate seller’s website, but their prices are jaw-droppingly cheaper than other websites, the A. Lange & Sohne dealer is likely a counterfeiter.

Replica A. Lange & Sohne watches are priced significantly lower (sometimes for as little as a couple hundred dollars) and are typically easier to spot. However, some forgers will go to great lengths to produce a very convincing and high-end knockoff watch and price them for thousands of dollars. But, because they’re eager to unload the phony A. Lange & Sohne watches, they’re still priced significantly below the real market value for an authentic A. Lange & Sohne watch.

Therefore, as you shop online, it’s important to have a good understanding of the market value of a real A. Lange & Sohne timepiece. Cross-reference a handful of sellers of the particular A. Lange & Sohne model you’re interested in to get a general range for the piece. Once you establish that price range, it’s best to avoid any outliers who quote you well below their competitor’s minimum prices.

Ask an Expert

The only way to definitively know if your A. Lange & Sohne pre-owned watch is genuine is to bring it to an expert. A professional and trained watch dealer can peek inside the watch to see if the watch was refurbished with new or different A. Lange & Sohne parts which would influence the timepiece’s resale value.

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