Many watch fans highly regard Richard Mille for its top-notch quality. Though the prices are high, they match the outstanding quality. Before buying, knowing how to spot a fake Richard Mille watch by its features is essential.
Many luxury watch buyers have unknowingly bought fake watches or made mistakes. Surprisingly, even famous Indonesians have been tricked. So, it’s crucial to research well before buying. Learn how to check if a watch is authentic to avoid making mistakes.
How to Spot a Fake Richard Mille Watch
Experienced collectors find it easy to tell real Richard Mille watches from fakes. But for beginners, it’s much more challenging. Here’s a simple guide to help you spot the real deal.
1. Check the engraving on the watch case
The first step is to examine the engraving on the watch case, particularly on the back. Typically, a genuine Richard Mille watch will feature engraving that reads ‘Richard Mille’ and its serial number.
Pay attention to the engraving—genuine engravings are clean-cut with evenly spaced fonts. If the engraving appears sloppy or feels rough to the touch, chances are the watch is counterfeit.
You can also verify the watch’s serial number, as every timepiece has a unique identifier. This serial number serves as the watch’s identity mark.
Genuine Richard Mille watches bear the initials ‘RM’ followed by a sequence of letters, numbers, and spaces. The serial number is usually located on the bottom of the watch case.
2. Pay attention to the weight of the watch
A hallmark of Richard Mille watches is their use of titanium as the primary material. Titanium is renowned for its high quality, durability, and lightweight properties.
Therefore, despite their large size, authentic Richard Mille watches are notably light in weight. In fact, they often weigh less than counterfeit Rolex or Audemars Piguet watches.
If the Richard Mille watch feels unusually heavy, it may indicate that it’s not authentic. You can also cross-check the perceived weight with official specifications available on the official Richard Mille website
3. Look for a visible balance wheel
Most Richard Mille watches showcase a transparent case, revealing the intricacies of their tourbillon movement. Due to this transparency, users can observe the inner workings of the watch, including the balance wheel.
The balance wheel is a critical part of the watch’s regulation mechanism, oscillating back and forth. In Richard Mille watches, these balance wheels are often crafted from special materials such as titanium.
The balance wheel is visible from outside the case. Typically, in counterfeit watches, the balance wheel won’t be clearly visible due to non-standard composition.
However, detecting this can be challenging for novices, so it’s advisable to seek assistance from experts.
4. Ensure a wider watch strap
Another distinguishing factor between genuine and counterfeit watches is the width of the bracelet or rubber strap on Richard Mille watches. Genuine watches tend to have wider bracelets, whereas counterfeit ones may appear narrower or thinner.
Additionally, differences can be observed in the screw engravings—genuine Richard Mille screws are subtly thinner compared to counterfeit ones.
5. Verify all related documents
Buyers should receive extensive documentation accompanying the watch when purchasing a luxury timepiece. Typically, this documentation includes a warranty card, information about the watch’s identity, and guidelines for its use and maintenance.
Before finalizing any purchase, verifying the completeness of the accompanying documents is imperative. Even if you’re buying a secondhand watch, ask the person selling it for all the papers that came with it.
These documents prove that the timepiece was previously acquired through legitimate channels and is indeed authentic.
Where to Buy Authentic Richard Mille Watch
Besides the methods mentioned above for distinguishing between genuine and fake watches, there is another alternative to ensure that the purchased watch is authentic. This can be done by buying from a trusted source.
You can choose from these three places to buy luxury watches like Richard Mille, namely the official Richard Mille boutiques, authorized dealers, or luxury goods marketplaces.
1. Brand’s boutique
Every luxury watch brand usually has official boutiques in various areas. Purchasing from the official boutique guarantees quality and authenticity. This can be a plus point for new buyers not accustomed to buying watches through other means.
However, the purchasing process at the official boutique generally takes longer. This is because most watches are not readily available in stock but must go through a pre-order system.
In addition, buyers cannot get discontinued watches from the boutique. The boutique will only sell watches still officially produced by Richard Mille.
2. Authorized dealer
Unlike boutiques, authorized dealers do not only provide watches from one brand. Generally, they collaborate with several brands and obtain official permission to distribute watches from them in their stores.
Many authorized dealers can be found in Indonesia. The advantage is that you can see more collections at these places.
However, dealers usually set higher selling prices to earn a bigger commission. Typically, dealers will increase the cost of goods by around 5-10% from the boutique price.
3. Luxury goods marketplace
Another solution is to visit marketplaces designed specifically for transactions of luxury goods, including Richard Mille watches. Such marketplaces usually present collections from various brands, not limited to watch products.
The advantage is that marketplaces usually have a more diverse collection so that potential buyers can compare products and prices more easily.
Moreover, both new and pre-owned watches are available here. Thus, discontinued watches can still be found through luxury goods marketplaces.
However, always be cautious of dubious marketplaces whose quality is not guaranteed. Choosing a trustworthy marketplace, such as Luxehouze, is advisable.
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Luxehouze has a vast collection of watches from various renowned brands. All products at Luxehouze are guaranteed 100% authentic and can be obtained at the best prices.
You can make transactions at Luxehouze online or offline. You can visit Luxehouze boutiques in Jakarta or Surabaya to see the collections firsthand.
So, if you’re looking for a genuine Richard Mille watch at a competitive price, don’t hesitate to visit Luxehouze now!
