How we authenticate

A watch is either genuine or it is not. There is no middle grade, and no amount of description settles it. So four things happen to every piece before it appears on this site, and the result is written on the listing — including when the result is inconvenient.

1. Movement check

The case back comes off. The calibre is identified and compared against what that reference is supposed to carry: bridge layout, finishing, engraving, rotor, jewel count. A convincing copy of a case is common. A convincing copy of a movement is not. This is the fastest way to end the question.

2. Serial and reference verification

The serial and reference are read from the case — between the lugs, on the rehaut or on the case back, depending on the maker and the year — and checked against the papers where papers exist. They must agree with each other and with the production period of that model. Serials are masked in the photographs on this site and shown to you in full at handover.

3. Case and lume inspection

Under a loupe: the cut of the lugs, the depth and evenness of the engraving, the crystal and its markings, the alignment and font of the dial printing, the colour of the lume and how it reacts under UV. Copies fail here on detail, not on shape. A piece that has been polished heavily is recorded as such.

4. Independent watchmaker sign-off

The piece then goes to a watchmaker who does not work for us and has no interest in whether it sells. He confirms it or he refuses it. Nothing is listed before he has confirmed it, and his name and the date are recorded on the listing.

What this means for you

• Every listing states what was checked on that specific watch, and who signed it off.
• Where a document does not exist — no papers, no service record — the listing says so in those words. Gaps are not filled with likely-sounding sentences.
• You inspect the watch yourself before you pay the balance. If it is not what the listing described, you do not pay.
• If a piece bought from us is ever shown not to be genuine, we refund the full purchase price and the delivery. There is no time limit on that.

Ora is a dealer in Cairo. We are not a manufacturer and not an authorised agent of any brand named on this site. Brand names appear here only to describe the watch being sold.