Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Posers beware! A WIS might be around...

First off, I'd like to wish everyone here a Very Happy New Year! Thank you for you comments and feedback. Both CF and I look really look forward them and please continue to send them in :) Now, lets get back to the post:
So, after a lot of years of failed planning, a bunch of us finally ended up in Goa for New Years and although it's not the best time to be there with all the traffic, crowds and hiked up prices; it was still a lot more fun then doing nothing in Mumbai. I had heard about the Casinos in Goa, but had never been to one, so a few of us decided to try a couple of them out.
(Note:Since, the Government of India prohibits live gambling on Indian Land, the Casinos are built on ships which are docked just a few feet from the banks of the river Mandovi, which flows through the capital city Panjim.)
So, there I was playing Black Jack with about 7 other players when I catch a nice looking watch, in the corner of my eye. It was a what seemed to be a Tag Heuer Grand Carrera. I asked the guy wearing it from across the table, whether it indeed was one. He confirmed it and then after a few seconds, proudly takes it off his wrist and hands it over to me.
Guy: "Here, have a closer look at it. It cost me Rs 2.8 Lakhs! ($6,085)"
Me: "Umm...where did you pick this up from?"
Guy: "The Tag showroom"
Me: "You should return it and get your money back, cause it's a fake."
The guy, who was slightly drunk, suddenly sobered up. He asks me how can I be so sure. I explain to him that apart from the poor construction of the watch, the dial had the words "chronometer" on it and since the seconds hand was 'ticking' rather than 'sweeping', it was a quartz watch, where as the real one would've been an automatic.
The guy had turned a dark shade of scarlet by that time and his friends around him started snickering at his embarrassment.
Not wanting to cause a further scene, i just handed the watch back over to him and continued with the game :p

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tag FAIL!!

Aditya said...

You are a cruel man :-)

Bio said...

Hehe. Well, he started it! :D

Sumanth said...

I think most of them would get away with it. I get quite a look from people when i tell them i am wearing a mechanical hand wound watch. So not many WIS around i guess.

yande said...

You are a brave man, telling a half drunk stranger his watch is fake! I am always skeptical of people who immediately try and impress me by stating how much something they own costs. In our society, (Australia) it is not polite to ask either. So in this case, this guy got what he deserved, IMO. Generally I am very careful when commenting about other peoples watches. I usually wear my Speedy Pro, so others watches are usually not in the same bracket. I always like finding at least one good thing about their watch. Basic selling I guess. A sincere compliment goes a long way. But I am yet to find a sincere compliment for a fake!

Bio said...

I agree with you. If I see a genuine watch on someone's wrist, I compliment them on it, no matter what the value is, especially if its not something that's available locally. I'll also, give them more info on it, if they aren't aware of it already.

Gaurav said...

dude i am loving this blog and as a fellow blogger and watch lover i know how hard it is to post but you really need to up the ante.
there really needs to be a serious outlet for buy/sell of watches as well as an expert. be happy to help if needs be.

cheers,
gaurav

Bio said...

Hey Gaurav, you're absolutely right about the "need for serious outlet for buy/sell of watches as well as an expert."
I hope to someday be able to start something of my own, but it'll take time as things have been quite busy this year. Hopefully as more people become aware of this, things will start improving. Till then all we can do is spread the word and educate, those around us :)