A Week On The Wrist
A. Lange & Söhne
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"Aftermarket jewelers going to make me do something I shouldn’t be doing." – Lil Baby
The online watch and hip-hop communities came together once again this past weekend, after Atlanta rapper Lil Baby got busted wearing a fake Patek to the Met Gala.
Now, anyone who helped drive Lil Baby's "Drip Too Hard" to 830 million Spotify streams knows the Atlanta rapper is a PP fan – the brand pops up less than 15 seconds into the track. But when he said "I bought a new Patek," he presumably thought he'd bought a real one.
The offending watch. Image, Lil Baby's Instagram
Then came the red carpet, where he was spotted wearing what seemed to be a Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5711/1P "40th Anniversary." Released in 2016, the platinum watch with baguette-cut diamond hour markers was a limited edition of 700 pieces with a retail price of $113,400. What a find! Lil Baby, acquiring his more recently from the New York jeweler Rafaello & Co., reportedly paid upward of $400,000.
The only problem? The watch was fake. A phony. A straight replica.
A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom)
After being made aware of the duplicity, Lil Baby took to Instagram to call out Rafaello & Co. while also making a very relatable plea to Patek Philippe ("See this is why I need to be on the list!!"). Rafaello & Co. responded with a public apology and a statement saying that Lil Baby had been reimbursed in full and blessed with a couple of rings for his trouble.
All good? For now, maybe. But we'd like to take this opportunity to offer a few tips to Lil Baby, and anyone else shopping for high-end watches, to ensure this never happens again.
Everyone wants to make a buck these days, but you don't want it to come at the cost of your own reputation. Run through this checklist before you purchase your next Patek Philippe.
The real Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5711/1P.
I'd pay $400k for the cork box, tbh.
Honestly, what I think we all really want to know is whether or not the watch was delivered with a replica cork box.
I don't know Rafaello & Co., (my Diamond District experience is limited to Uncut Gems) and I have zero desire to throw any additional shade their way after what must have been a difficult few days. And the jeweler's attempt to make things right seems earnest enough; we have no reason to believe this was anything other than an honest mistake.
Oop! Lil Baby shared this message after it appears that his Patek Philippe watch was fake. pic.twitter.com/W2jtU98qYV
But there has to be a better way. There's too much money out there, and too many watches with sketchy backstories that you should just walk away from. And if Lil Baby hadn't bought the watch, someone else would have snagged it sooner than later. That's just the state of the market these days. If you're going to drop that kind of cash on a watch, wouldn't you rather do it with some place that guarantees authenticity and doesn't drop the ball on such a heavy-hitting watch? A place like, gee, I don't know, HODINKEE Pre-Owned?
If not HODINKEE/Crown & Caliber, plenty of other trustworthy sellers out there have the knowledge and reputation necessary (and more importantly, the safeguards in place to make sure incidents like this don't fall through the cracks) to facilitate a major purchase like this. Help us help you.
The secondary market for luxury watches is an animal entirely its own today, and the most important factor is trust. Lil Baby was able to recoup his $400,000 after a brief social media outcry, but whoever comes next might not be able to work community outrage in their favor to achieve the same result.
That's what makes an Instagram Story by the Chicago-based hip-hop artist Lil Durk, which was posted a week prior to the Lil Baby scandal, so prescient.
"Stop buying all this jewelry without knowing what you are doing. A lot of the shit fake and some is over priced. Get 1 jeweler and stick to em I'm telling you y'all ass gone be pissed when the truth come out."
Learn more about Patek Philippe online.
Learn more about Rafaello & Co here.
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