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How to Authenticate A Chopard Watch
When it comes to investing in things, authentication is a very important thing to keep in mind. One of the most pressing reasons this is so is because of the fact that luxurious watches are essentially investments. This goes for Chopard watches too, of course.
Chopard is a Swiss-based watch brand that is actually over 157-years of age. The watchmaker eventually ventured into fine jewelry during the eighties and later on turned into a global force to be reckoned with boasting 100 stores worldwide and more than $800 million USD in yearly income.
There is only one real way to go about this. To check if your watch is an authentic item, you will need to have it professionally appraised. For a certain amount of fee, a professional jeweler will examine and test your timepiece to verify it is real and confirm if any parts of the item are after-market or counterfeit. So with that, what do these experts check specifically?
Experts will Check the Overall Quality of the Watch
Because of the combined brand value and immense market demand, Chopard watches will have an increased level of risk in counterfeiting.
The overall assessment of your Chopard piece will give you a staggeringly vivid idea of its validity or authenticity. Chopard watches and gems are made of the greatest quality gemstones and valuable metals, by the world’s best craftsmen.
Now with that in mind, the piece should feel substantially hefty, most especially with an 18k gold and platinum used to create Chopard products.
Chopard basically has a very rigorous standard for every piece of item they produce. You should also do your due diligence and research. Make sure that you get to familiarize yourself with the dimensions of the watch’s listed dimensions. If you notice that the measurements of a particular item you’re eyeing are even just a few millimeters off, it’s a good indication it’s most definitely a fake.
Lastly, they always keep in mind that unless the piece is truly a vintage piece, there should never be any visible damage or missing parts or stones. Chopard’s designs, as majestic and delicate looking as they are, are actually unbelievably resilient and durable. Every piece of diamond it holds should remain secure in its setting. One of the best and immediate red flag clues when checking the quality of these watches is when they see any residue of adhesive. Particularly on the specific parts and seams where the different parts of the watch are attached to each other. This usually means that the watch has previously been opened for whatever reason.
Checking the Brands and its Markings
Basically, all the authentic Chopard-produced watches are signed with the jeweler and a list of its metal content. You yourself can go and check these small details. Pay close attention to the stamped hallmarks and marks. Engravings should be clean and precise. Any sort of spelling mistake will immediately make it a fake. There are also a few more subtle errors experts look for like misalignments or blurred scripts.
Platinum pieces are stamped with a “950” and some gold ones are marked with a “750”.
A very easy element to authenticate a Chopard watch is to have a serial number. Every Chopard watch should always have a serial number imprinted on them. This is a unique number that is kept in the records of Chopard itself. A professional (or if you happen to have it) can just call the company and cross-reference the serial number and do a match with the item listed in their files.
With some of these explored, there are also a few tasks you could do as well if you currently don’t have any contact with a professional that can cross-check your watch. Though these steps are admittedly a bit more simple, these are all still legitimate steps into knowing if the watch you have in your hands is authentic or not.
Look at the Seller’s Location
Like what was said, you yourself can do some sherlock level detective work. If, for example, you’re shopping online, try to ask about the seller’s location. Be very careful of any sellers based out of China, as the country is known for exporting most of the world’s counterfeit goods and products. Of course, this does not mean all sellers in China are counterfeiters but it should factor into your decision to shop with the said seller. Keep in mind as well that they might not always tell you the truth regarding their location. So look at the reviews and as well as the shipping details during check out to determine their specific location.
Surfing online, you can take a look at the URL and confirm if it’s not a near-misspelling of Chopard. There is a whole slew of online forgers that will capture misdirected traffic and mislead shoppers that accidentally land on their page from a mistyped search query.
Takeaway
Once again, it is very imperative that you read all the available online reviews on the seller. Study and carefully scrutinize their language to make sure they are not written by the same person (or even the seller themselves) and observe every detail of the different shopper’s experiences.
Basically, vague, weird, or even incomplete reviews are a pretty strong indication this may not be a trustworthy source of Chopard watches. Also, if there are no reviews for these products, it’s best to move on and try a different, more reliable seller online. Creating a new store online is very easy these days. And no reviews mean that these have only been recently posted. You must buy instead from those who already have accumulated reviews to make sure that you’re not throwing away precious money.
