First look at the workmanship of the watch. Patek Philippe’s workmanship is very fine. In the pursuit of perfection, watch beauty is everywhere, even under the invisible case. The hand-polished connections, corners, and beautiful circular textures on the movement are all Patek Philippe details, but they are also carefully crafted. At present, Patek Philippe is still the only manufacturer in the world that adopts manual refining and can complete all watchmaking processes in the original factory, and adheres to the traditional craftsmanship of watches. A fake Patek Philippe has rough workmanship and can be distinguished at a glance.
Check the movement. Open the back cover and you will see that the polished stone of the Patek Philippe movement is fine. You can use a magnifying glass to see it and compare it with the movement diagram. There are movement diagrams of your watch online. Every Patek Philippe watch has an ID card. There is a record of ownership changes, and you will know when you go to the store and check.
Most of the patterns and letters engraved on the back cover of counterfeit Patek Philippe watches are very thick and blurry, and the case number and movement number are unknown. Original Patek Philippe watches usually have a film on the back cover. Gold-plated shell watches made in Switzerland have letters engraved on the open position of the case (opposite to the spring rod where the strap is installed), such as PLAQUEGI0, indicating that the case is 10 micron gold-plated. Counterfeit watches do not have this mark. Many counterfeit watches use processes such as titanium nitride to pretend to be gold-plated cases.
Although some counterfeit Patek Philippe watches have the letters sWISSMOVT printed on the dial to indicate Swiss movement, and letters such as SHOCKPROOF to indicate that they are shock-proof watches, these Patek Philippe watches usually have more flaws and blemishes on the dial. For example, the dial characters are not set correctly, the mark of the dividing line is blurred, the dial characters or trademark letters and patterns are not set tightly on the dial, there are many scratches, discoloration and luminous dots falling off on the dial, and the luminous dots are all added to the dial. On the inside of the characters, the luminous dots are larger and appear uneven. There are also cases where the luminous dots on the dial and the luminous dots on the hands are inconsistent in color.
Patek Philippe’s official identification method - Certificate of Origin
Every Patek Philippe watch has a Certificate of Origin. This certificate is like a watch’s birth certificate, providing complete details of the watch you have purchased. This certificate also serves as your warranty certificate, proving that your watch has been registered in our database, as every Patek Philippe watch has its own serial number, which is recorded in the company's database register. The original certificate of each watch is unique and cannot be copied, so please keep it properly. This certificate must be correctly filled out, dated and stamped by an authorized Patek Philippe retailer for the warranty to be valid. The Certificate of Origin is only valid if the watch is sold by an authorized Patek Philippe retailer.
Each watch has a serial number and document certificate. At their company headquarters, every serial number is recorded, and of course there is also a record of the purchaser. The best way to check is to go to a specialty store.