Hi guys, the mrs has bought me a brand new Time Bomb for my birthday but i'm stumped as to the serial/bracelet it has... just wanted to authenticate it before she hides it away until my 30th! i don't want to go snooping and check it out myself, but i'm aware that if there's a problem with it it will need to be dealt with/returned fairly soon rather than in a couple of months time!

Its X-Metal/White and has the gen 1 style forged band with the original small integrated clasp, which i always believed came with a ######F serial...? But the serial on this is 000137... no F...

So what the hell is this thing? it's coming from a shop in the Channel Islands where it has been ever since Oakley sent them it as a retailer, along with an X-Metal/Ti and an X-Metal/Carbon, serialed 001383 and 001171 and again both with gen 1 forged bands and no F's...

Obviously i have considered the horrifying possibility that it is a fake, but the seller is reputable, it comes in the correct big aluminium Vault with the correct engraving in the top, with the correct black cardboard outer box with the artistic photo of a Time Bomb on the top, the box has the correct seal sticker, the watch itself has the correct engraving other than the serial around the viewing window, and it has the correct hands. So from what i can see from an admittedly non-expert O watch newbie perspective, it looks legit... apart from the serial...

Anyone shed any light...?

Thanks!

Jim, you can always post pics, which would help us help you.
Does your clasp bear the O logo?
The forged band basically has a flush clasp, i.e., the band is even thru out with release pins, much like the TB II if you've seen one.
On forged bands, no clasp, and therefore no O logo on the band itself.

theres is no O logo and the clasp is the flush integrated version that you describe. tried pasting pics but couldnt get it to work!

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the forged bands only came in X-Metal finish.
Could have been swapped in by an authorized dealer with the parts.
Fake original TBs I've seen are absolutely atrocious, nowhere close to fake Minute Machine watches that have emerged that only differ in finer details.

I wouldn't be surprised me that old bands was put with "new cases" at HQ when the did the switch from a generation to the other.
Changing the setup of a laser engraving machine can't take much time, while producing new clasps must take longer.
So I assume this was just a matter of bad timing.

thanks for the input guys, the strap on this is the original one it came with, the dealer hasnt swapped it out, my thoughts are the same as yours, that it is an early gen 2 without the F serial that for some reason left the factory with a leftover forged bracelet instead of the new big clasp type. guess they were using up the last of the old stock bracelets! but thats just FINE by me as that makes it all the more unique and means that Dann has to rewrite the Timebomb serials definitions because of MY watch! the only other theory i had was that it was maybe a staff or promotional item that they didnt F mark, but i think staffers had no serials at all and a plastic box not a Vault. promos i have no idea. im going with the first theory of gen 1 to gen 2 changeover, at least until i find someone with a lower serial and a big clasp! thanks again guys