American Durk Derrick Banks, known professionally as rapper Lil Durk, is urging his fans to shop with authorised dealers soon after compatriot Lil Baby appeared to have been stung by a secondary market dealer with a fake Patek Philippe he bought for $400,000.
“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,” Mr Durk urges in an Instagram post to his 11.1 million followers.
Rappers have been courted by prestige watch brands because of their penchant for bragging to their millions of social media followers about how they spend their money on hard luxury goods.
That is drawing attention from bloggers with more expertise in horology than rapping, who suggest that Lil Baby has been wearing a knock-off Patek Philippe rather than the $400,000 original.
Lil Baby does not confirm that he has been pictured wearing a fake, but does turn the controversy into an opportunity to move himself up on the interminable waiting lists for Patek Philippe’s hottest timepieces.
“@patekphilippe see this why I need to be on the list!!” he urges in an apparent reference to the controversy highlighted by Lil Durk.
“After market dealers going to make me do some I shouldn’t,” he adds with a purple devil emoji.
Lil Durk’s advice to stick with one jeweler is sound. As WATCHPRO has noted on many occasions, building a long and trusted relationship with a local authorized dealer is the only sure fire way to score the hottest unicorn watches.
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