An old man who I have a drink with in the pub says that he has a fake/replica Rolex watch that he will give me. He is a volunteer for a hospice shop and the watch has been donated for charity. Because the watch is a fake they are not allowed to sell it so he was allowed to take it home. The watch apparently keeps perfect time but does not fit him because the person who donated it had some links removed from the bracelet. He thinks that it will fit me because I am a “skinny” person. He brings in the watch the next day and it just about fits my wrist so he gives it me and asks me to donate £5.00p for the charity shop, which I do. The next day he brings me a receipt from the hospice shop for the amount that I have donated. I take it home thinking it’s another watch that I can wear when something starts to puzzle me. Why would someone go to the trouble of having links removed from the bracelet of a cheap fake watch? I have a look on the net about how to tell if a Rolex is counterfeit or fake and the information starts me to think the watch could be the real thing. It just so happens that I know someone who deals in expensive watches. I describe the watch to him; he asks me a series of questions about it, which ticks all the boxes for a real Rolex or a good copy. He is intrigued and we have arranged to meet next Friday so he can view the watch. So what would you do if it turns out to be a real expensive Rolex watch? Give it back to the old man (He was given the watch by the shop on the understanding that it was a fake before passing it on to me for the same reason)? Give it back to the hospice shop directly so that they can sell it for charity? Split the proceeds between all parties involved? Say nothing and keep all the money myself? Or anything else? I will let you know whether the watch is a fake or a real Rolex next week. Andy
Return it where I got it I would return it to the old man, hoping that he'd return it to the hospice people. Since he's a volunteer there, it's a good bet that he would. Keeping it would not be an option - for me, anyway.
Rolex. Not a Rolex. Transaction One. Hospice/Charity doesn't want THE WATCH, believing it's a fake and cannot under their guidelines sell it. Transaction Two. Old man holds "ownership" of WATCH. First saying he'd GIVE it away. Then as a sub transaction asks for a 5 donation. Do you want/need another watch? Do you care or want to flaunt that it's a Rolex? Who wears watches anymore? It's free. You donate 5 to charity and get a receipt. Throw the watch in a drawer. NOW. It might really be worth something? Or still nothing. You pursue it. Shazam. It's a real Rolex and worth a lot of money. You have possession. Say similar to finding a Rembrandt under a stick figure child's drawing. You have possession. If you want or need to have and display a Rolex on your wrist you keep it. If you want or need the money available for a used Rolex, you put it on the market and get what you can. Proceeds are either totally yours. Or if you have a nagging conscience you donate more than 5 to the charity. And or maybe buy the old man a couple of pints. Or give him a finders fee. Long and short. After the second transaction you own the watch and have discretion over its destiny or benefits of its value. Your justification if needed is you made a better determination than the CHARITY and therefore you reap the benefits. And again, you can still make a donation to the CHARITY which is probably more than they would have made, since their value judgment wasn't that great to begin with.
My Spin Why would someone donate a knockoff Rolex to a charity? Anyway, I'd sell the watch, keep the 5 pounds that I paid the old man, and give the balance of the money to the hospice. If I felt like giving a 5 pound donation to the hospice, I'd give them all the proceeds from the sale of the watch. After selling the genuine Rolex and donating all but 5 pounds to the hospice, I would tell the old man what happened. He might be angry, but he has no right to be. He might also thank you. His reaction would depend on his character. But you are well within your rights to keep all the proceeds. You did not defraud the old man because at the time of your transaction with him you had no reason to believe the Rolex might be genuine.
A knock off Rolex could very well be donated to a charity in good faith if the donor wasn't aware the charity guidelines prevented it from selling items other than original. A knock off Rolex does have value, the donor may have been aware he was making a donation valued at $25.00 USD or so and left the premises feeling very much a philanthropist helping others with his donation no matter the value. Donating even a few cans of soup for the less fortunate let alone a fake Rolex makes many feel and rightfully so they are sacrifcing to help others. I wouldn't lose much sleep deciding how to proceed prior to Friday when the expert determines it real or fake. Your ultimate decision if the watch is real should not be decided by a poll on this site but rather the personal comfort level of your final decision which I won't attempt to advise.
Not directly related to the question at hand but I came across this story today (12/09/10) about a man that listed the James Bond Rolex on e-bay with a starting price of $9.95. The watch eventually sold on e-bay for $66,100. The man purchased the watch in 1958 from the "Navy Exchange on Kwajalein Atoll". I bring this up because people often don't have a clue as to the value of some merchandise. My mother used to say "Finders keepers, losers weepers". http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_new...nd-rolex-for-995-sells-it-for-66100?gt1=43001
Rolex Watch Result I meet my watch guy in the pub as arranged and place the Rolex on the bar in front of him. Before he picks up the watch he produces an eyeglass and magnifier and then gets down to the business. He mutters “ Rolex oyster perpetual day-date with superlative chronometer”. He closely examines the watch, fiddles with the winder, taps the glass and looks at the bracelet giving it umm’s and ahhs all the way through. The examination seems to go on forever as he continues to stare at the watch and I am none the wiser. In fact, I order another round of drinks for everybody watching just to break the suspense, which is killing us all. I have already made my decision what to do if the Rolex watch is real for the following reasons. The person who donated the watch intended for the money from the sale to go to the Hospice charity. That is good enough for me. I may legally own the watch as Noman points out, but does this mean that I should profit from a mistake of valuation from wonderful people who give up their free time to raise money for a good cause? The old chap who gave me the watch does not want any money if it turns out to be real, but would be disappointed if I did not make a substantial donation to the Hospice charity. I have already decided that I will not give the watch back to the Hospice shop to sell, if it turns out to be a real Rolex. Instead I will ask my watch guy to sell it for the best price that he can get and then donate all the money directly to the Hospice shop (I can’t trust the elderly Hospice volunteers to get the best price, or to be ripped off by unscrupulous people). Selling the watch to make a profit for myself against a charity is like taking “Dirty Money,” you might need it, but the money was never intended for you in the first place. My watch guy looks up from my Rolex and says, “this is really good, in fact it is excellent, the mechanisms are fantastic and the day and date winder work like a treat”. I can’t stand it any longer so ask him if the watch is a real Rolex. The watch is a………………………………………………………..fake, albeit a fantastic copy. So that is life (not for the Hospice patients) it doesn’t always turn out want you want it to be. Andy
toolman First James Bond movie was 1962. Was the one bought at the atol post based on a written description from one of Fleming's "novels?"
Don't know. I merely copied the information from the referred story. Maybe the purchase date was a typo in the story and should have been 1968 instead of 1958.
