"WATT" You Need to Know about Collecting Watt- BEWARE!

Are you new to Watt collecting??? PROTECT yourself against some of the FAKE Watt being sold on eBay and at local auction houses. 99% of the Watt sold on eBay is authentic, but there are a few FAKE Watt pitchers and bowls. ARM yourself against being defrauded out of your money- AVOID costly mistakes!!!Know these warning signs!!!1. Pitchers NEVER measure 5", 6", or 7". The real pitchers are 4-1/2", 5-1/2", and 6-1/2".2. The decoration is NEVER colored in on Watt pieces. They are made with fluid, singular strokes.3. 99% of the Watt pitchers are NOT numbered just with a 15 in a circle on the bottom.4.Don't let crazing fool you- most of these pitchers are artificiallyaged and crazed with chemicals to make them look authentic.If you are not sure about the authenticity of a pitcher (or bowl), PLEASE,contact browser to ask about a particular auction. I am not in competition with thesepieces and will always be honest with you. I can also direct you tothe Watt Collectors website at wattcollectors.com so that you can see the dimensions anddifferences for yourself.Here are photo comparisons of fake Watt items and real ones:1. Fake Watt pitcher bottom Real Watt pitcher bottom 2. Fake Watt Cherry Real Watt Cherry You can see that the fake one has the wrong shade of green and the leaves are "colored in" rather than one long stroke.3. Fake Watt Tulip Real Watt Tulip Onthis one, you can see the flowers are way too small proportionately,the center leaf is "colored in", not one stroke, and the stems arewavy, not straight.4. Fake Watt Apple Real Watt Apple Again,the leaves on the fake one are not the right shade of green, they are"colored in", not a smooth stroke, and the apple is a heavy red color,not a lightly stroked on red. The stems are also wavy, not straight.It is a visibly inferior job of decoration.5. Fake Rooster pitcher Real Rooster pitcher Whenthe Rooster pitchers starting showing up, some changes were made to thefake pitchers. First, they were made of a more white clay body ratherthan the cream color of the real Watt pitchers. Also, the peoplemaking the reproductions realized they had the bottom mark wrong andstarted imprinting the bottom with the correct Watt 15 Oven Ware U.S.A.mark. They have also gotten better with the green and red colors andthe decoration technique. You can see the Rooster looks quite good.Here is how you can tell the difference- they artificially aged thepitchers with chemicals to make them look heavily crazed and they havethe WHITE clay body. Look closely at the fake photo and you can seehow itis crazed uniformly all over and you can see that it does not looknatural at all.6. Lastly, withmost of the fakes, the stripe on the handle is a narrow line running almost all the way down thehandle. The real Watt stripe is shorter, fuller, and more graceful. I am unable to show these photos as eBay only allows me 10 photos in a guide, but I wanted to mention this as one more signal that the pitcher may be a fake.ARMyourself with KNOWLEDGE!!! Do NOT let your money go down the drain forsome of these fake pieces!!! I have been a member of the Watt Collectors Association since 1996 and want nothing more than for you to enjoy collecting Watt as much as I do- and to be able to do it safely. I am glad to look at auctions and answerquestions! It is far better to ask questions than to have regrets andlose a lot of money. Have FUN collecting Watt pottery, not regrets!

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