A German watch collector is stuck with a $50,000 forgery after a B.C. Supreme Court judge tossed out his case against the West Vancouver family who sold it to him online.
The watch was advertised on the online auction site eBay in April 2008 as a Patek Philippe rare-model rose pink gold vintage 1950s wristwatch of a prototype design that had never retailed and had been owned by the family for 40 years, according to the courts ruling. It was listed for sale at $65,000. The advert, which included photos of the watch and a certificate of authentication, piqued the interest of Oliver Hartmann, who immediately put in a bid at $45,000.
The owner of 20 Patek Philippe watches already, Hartmann thought the watch was especially rare only six similar watches had been auctioned in the last 15 years, and those had yellow gold, not rose gold.
After speaking to the defendants, Christopher Fulton and his mother Wendy McKerness of West Vancouver, Hartmann said he was told they had received offers of $50,000 but preferred to sell to a collector like Hartmann than to a dealer due to the sentimental value.
Hartmann upped his offer and the deal went through April 8, but his opinion quickly soured. Hartmann told the court he couldnt get a certificate or abstract from Patek Philippe guaranteeing the watch as authentic because the case numbers which should have matched the records werent engraved on the watch.
An expert, Stefan Muser, examined the watch and found the casing was the wrong dimensions, was cast instead of manually assembled and lacked authentic autographs of the maker and the authenticating numbers. The dial was also altered to fit into a movement that was not the proper piece for the watch, said Muser.
Muser described the watch as without any doubt a forgery with a resale value only that of the used raw materials.
When Hartmann approached the sellers for a refund, they refused, arguing they acted in good faith and sold exactly what they offered, and Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston agreed.
He said Hartmann couldnt rely on the expertise of the sellers, who were simply selling a family heirloom and were not experts themselves. There were also several aspects of the sale that should have tipped off Hartmann, he added: the watch hadnt been sold in retail; it was a test watch; and the ad said it was made for, not by, Patek Philippe.
As well, several of the defects noted by Muser were clearly visible in the photographs, in particular the lack of case number, said Johnston.
I do not find on the evidence that it was a condition of this sale that an abstract or other confirmation of authenticity could be obtained from Patek Philippe, said Johnston in his decision.