I had the original (and still own) F1 back in 1991. After watching a recent episode of Classic car rescue I clocked one of the presenters wearing a orange-faced F1 Chrono.

WANT.

Thing is – new, where from or….if secondhand.. HOW do you spot the fakes?! I imagine a Jeweller could open up the back and look for markings but even those can be faked?

There are a number of dealers around who specialise in such things. In terms of spotting fakes, you really need to take it to a Tag specialist shop for verification to be totally sure.

A friend had an old Rolex submariner (worth a lot of money!)and I had a few years old fake from Turkey. When given both watches to compare, both Wives thought mine was the original!

I had one, wore it for 2 years then it needed a new battery/service. Sold it for what I paid for it (£550) minus the cost of the service. Thought I was lucky to break even. I think fakes around the time these came out weren’t that good. However unsure if there are people out there making fakes of this old model nowadays?

Have a look at some of the reputable pre-owned dealers of which there are many.

watches.co.uk in Chiswick have a few F1s but not an orange face, will also give you an idea of used prices.

blowers-jewellers.co.uk are also good, but need to check their ever changing stock.

If you’re buying new, Id suggest 25% discount as a starting point for an F1.

Watchfinder.co.uk have a large collection of used watches and are very good on price