31. januar 2015

Fortis Marinemaster - Watch out for fakes!

Super compressors are cool. No doubt about it. Different shapes of cases were made and the largest at 42 mm wide are very wearable.

The Fortis Marinemaster are one the most common models found on eBay and has a colourful and unique layout. The watch measures:
Width: 42 mm
Length: 49,5 mm
Height: 12,5 mm


Some wristshots of the fake version:




The price is usually reasonable at 300-350 euro for a vintage super compressor. And the Fortis Marinemaster's has all the characteristics of a super compressor: criss-cross pattern on crowns, the helmet-logo on the back of the case and the helmet logo and production date on the inside of the back case. Almost all Fortis Marinemaster's for sale are in mint condition. But it is almost to good to be true.

A little googling and soon I realised that 19 out of 20 for sale are modern replicas (or fakes, as some would call them). A some point in time a large batch has been produced and they are now gradually released to the market.

Read this blog with an excellent discussion. UPDATE: Also see this thread on Watchuseek.

The fake Fortis Marinemaster's are fairly easy to identify once you are aware of what to look for. The production date is "4 - 70" :

It says "WATERPROOP" on the back case:

Often the wrong "P" in "WATERPROOP" has been etched out:

Or the word "WATERPROOP" has been polished away:

On the outer ring the fake versions have "DEPTH IN FEET." combined with square hour markers:

In 2002 actually Fortis themselves produced a 90-years limited edition of the Fortis Marinemaster Steel Date, but only 90 pieces were made. They should be easily recognizable by the limitation number (e.g. "12/90" engraved on the case back. Source.
Spec sheet for the Fortis Marinemaster 90-years limited edition of 90 pieces

A genuine 90-years limited edition of the Fortis Marinemaster from 2002. Note the number on the back.
Source

A genuine Fortis Marinemaster from the early 70s has a different colour scheme on the dial - less red, more orange and yellow:

Note that later versions with "DEPTH IN FEET." and round hour markers has the dive table only in red (or orange if the print has faded):


A genuine Fortis Marinemaster has no spelling errors on the back case: 

A genuine Fortis Marinemaster is not only produced in "4-70" but e.g. from "11-72": 

A genuine Fortis Marinemaster has "60 55 50 45" on the outer ring (combined with square or round hour markers):
Source
Some genuine models has "DEPTH IN FEET." combined with round hour markers. But none seems to have "DEPTH IN FEET." and square markers like the fake versions.
Source

Original documentation from Fortis.
Fortis 6237 source
Fortis 6337 source

To sum up. The genuine Fortis Marinemaster's are very rare and often sold for 1.000+ euros.

The Fortis Marinemaster replicas are available, reasonably affordable, in excellent condition and cool looking - but certainly not from the 70s. If only the sellers would call them "replicas" or "heritage".


Update May 2019
There seems to be more fake Fortis Marinemaster Super Compressors for sale at eBay and Chrono24 than ever. In alle fairness some are advertised as beeing ”reedition” or being from ”2010-Now”. But a large part are still pushed as being from the 1970s and all are labeled ”Fortis”. You are not buying a genuine Fortis, it is a copy with unknown origin.

Please note that the sellers has some new tricks up their sleeves.

On same fake watches a new text has been etched in the backcase. Note that waterproof are spelled in two words and it has the non-existing model number 3231:

To make the fake version look more authentic some has a dial with a new layout where yellow and orange also are used. It is looking more like the original but the colours are too clear and bright:


The month and year "4-70" on the inside of the back has been removed:


18 kommentarer:

  1. Hi, very nice post about the marinemaster, but you left me with an uncertainty in you last sentence. I personally owned the waterproop version. I colltect watches for a long time and after this article I am not sure if this was a replica, a heritage watch, a reedition or just a fake. I personally can not imagine and I saw a lot of fakes, that this was one. Why making a fake wath with an writen mistake made on purpose? Is it not possible, that it was just done to avoid people to go swim with this watch as it was not waterproof at all? And why doing such an effort to create a fake watch with such a detailed precision - ETA movement, rotating bezel, all the engraving and then this "stupid " waterproop mistake. are you sure, Fortis has not produced this as a heritage line? Would like to know your opinion on that.

    SvarSlet
  2. Hi Watchport. Thanks for your input! Nothing seems to indicate that the ”waterproop” version is authorised by Fortis. It is certainly not one of the 90-years limited edition watches. The conclusion must be that these new ”waterproop” are replicas / fakes. The spelling error is probably just a stupid – but very fun – mistake ;-)

    SvarSlet
  3. Thanks for the reply. I just have to cope with the fact of having been pranked with this watch. Frankly, when I was buying this watch some years ago, I thought that it was just an edition for the scandinavian market. But it is a funny mistake indeed.

    SvarSlet
  4. Thank You for that great information about Fortis Marinemaster and saving my money!

    SvarSlet
  5. Hi. Great information. I have one of these watches and on the rear case it says Fortis Marine master Automatic Anti-magnetic All stainless steel. It also has 2 numbers. 3528 and 6237.
    The writing is very faint and hard to read and quite small. Does this sound correct? The dial looks right.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Hi Daveral. Thanks for your feedback. Can't say any definitive without pictures. But it sounds very promising with the faint writing and the 6237 model number on the back. Haven't seen that on the fakes (yet ;-). Congratulations on a fine watch.

      Slet
  6. Hey. Very grateful for the info, saved me from wasting money on an eBay purchase. The seller claimed he knew nothing. Too bad eBay does little to stop these scammers.

    SvarSlet
  7. Hi
    I found this fake case on eBay and...ordered:/ are you sure that was not Marinemasters in '90 years?
    All detail telling about it, that this os original watch kit.
    This ad still exist:-O
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORTIS-MARINE-MASTER-GENTS-WATCH-CASING-ETC-REF-4399-/254606757279?nav=SEARCH

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Great find. This is clearly one of the fakes with "WATER PROOF" and "3231" on the backcase and "4-70" on the inside. If you google the seller (m.zak zakariya) you will see that s/he is also infamous for selling fake Omega parts.

      Slet
  8. fake watches sale uk - Welcome to Watches Sales online store, buy the best replica watches in the UK. We offer the best high-quality fake watches at an affordable price. Contact us now.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Please **** off jack johnson. Why would anybody buy a fake watch - or "replica" as you call it - when you can find so many authentic vintage watches that are so much more fun.

      Slet
  9. Very informative review. I found a Fortis marine master with the dial in red and black, has depth in feet with square markers. As you mentioned these combination exist, can u tell if it is genuine based on marking on the movement? It has a fortis castle mark engraved with yellow line on the movement. Below the castle mark, it's written TWENTY-FIVE 25 JEWELS SWISS MADE. Do you think it is genuine?

    SvarSlet
  10. Great read, thanks for sharing. You saved me (and many others for sure) from losing a lot of money. Unfortunately replicas are getting harder to distinguish and sold on reputable sites like ebay and chrono24.

    SvarSlet
  11. I have a fake Fortis marinemaster.
    The square hour markers and depth in feet are combined and
    It has no waterproof word on the back.
    It's sad but at least it looks good and cool

    SvarSlet
  12. thanks! You saved me just in time!

    SvarSlet
  13. Hi there, how are you?

    Thanks for this great article. Here's a twist for you :)

    I recently bought a 1968 (at least thats what it says on inside of the case) Marine Master. It actually has lighter, white + sandy colors on the dial, which I guess could just be faded.

    All the details in your article point to my watch being authentic -but there is one detail on my watch which is not addressed, and I only noticed after I bought it.

    My watch has circular hour markers and does indeed say DEPTH IN FEET on the face, however DEPTH is spelled wrong - it says DEPH IN FEET with no T.

    Have you ever come across this?

    Thanks very much!

    SvarSlet

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