VSF Daytona story

I thought today would just be another day at work.

I was doing my usual rounds on a business-class flight from Dubai to Milan. Everyone was tired after the layover, and we were going through the usual welcome service, champagne, hot towels, the whole thing.

I noticed a guy in a pink/purple sweater angling his wrist up and down and taking pictures of his watch.

Just another watch enthusiast like me, I thought.

When it was his turn for champagne, he angled his wrist toward me to get a picture of his watch while I was pouring the champagne. I took a quick glance because, naturally, I wanted to see what he was wearing.

At first glance, I thought it was a Rolex. Centered polished link on an Oyster bracelet, the whole thing.

Then I noticed the bezel.

It looked like a Daytona, specifically a 116520, but something was off. The font and engravings on the bezel looked slightly different from my colleague's Daytona.

Hmm.

I carried on with my rounds.

A while later, I came back through the cabin and this is where things got interesting.

The guy had taken his watch off and placed it on his tray table. Then he pulled out a few passports and put them next to the watch and his champagne glass.

And now I had a much better view.

I looked at the bezel again.

The font was off. The engravings were off. The more I looked at it, the more obvious it became.

To my dismay, my suspicions were correct.

This man was wearing a fake Daytona.

And for the next few hours, I had the most ridiculous intrusive thoughts running through my head.

Do I ask him if it's real?

Do I ask where he got it?

How did he get the Daytona allocation?

Should I tell him?

I was genuinely tempted to ask him about it, but eventually decided to spare the guy the embarrassment and let him enjoy his holiday in Italy.

So I spent the rest of the flight saying absolutely nothing while internally conducting a mental investigation of a stranger's Rolex.