OK, I’ll start off with some bad news: the majority of the Diesels listed on eBay are fakes. But the good news is that after a bit of practice in the ways of authentication, you should be able to decipher what is authentic and what isn’t in no time. It’s not too difficult!

Location: Avoid any sellers listed from Turkey, Bulgaria, Thailand, the Phillipines, Hong Kong, etc…these are HUGE markets for fakes and 999 times out of 1000, the product you will receive from them is not authentic.

Price: Most authentic Diesels will NOT be listed with a BIN of $45. If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. On rare occasions, poorly listed authentic Diesels will sell for cheap, but do NOT bank on multiple authentics going for under 70 dollars. No profit is made on 180 dollar jeans that sell for a fraction of that price.

Quantity: If a seller is selling vast quantities of the same cut/wash, they’re almost certainly fake. Avoid sellers who have 15 pairs of X-Rotuck 796 for sale or who have 50 items listed but only 6 different cut/washes. Also, if a seller has multiple pairs in very common sizes (i.e.: 32/32, 34/32, 36/32, 38/32) that is also a red flag.

Pics: If a seller is using only stock pics, just do yourself a favor and avoid them. Most of the time, if a seller wont even photograph the actual jeans they’re selling, it’s because they’re hideous fakes.

Authentication

Tag: The easiest way to determine the authenticity of a pair of jeans is to look at the Indian head tag. This tag should be located on the right side of the waistband. If the tag is found anywhere else, the jeans are fake. Behind the Indian tag will be 2 other tags, one describing information about the particular pair at hand (i.e.: model, wash, lab, and date of manufacture). The third tag is a disclaimer about how the “garment has been treated” etc… The important tag is the first one. The tag is either a white or tannish color (starting in ’06, all tags have been tannish). On the tag will be a stitching of an Indian head with the words “DIESEL-ONLY THE BRAVE-DIESEL” wrapped around the bottom half of the head. Under that will be the word “SIZE” and on the right hand side will be the size of the jeans. Below the size will be the words “MADE IN ITALY” or, in some cases, “MADE IN MOROCCO” or “MADE IN ROMANIA.” The vast majority of Diesels, however, are made in Italy. Any other country listed besides those three are fake pairs. The black print should be bold and solid as opposed to shallow and messy. At the very bottom of the tag will be a strip of microstitching. This is your main source of proving authenticity. The microstitching should be full and defined. It should NOT look like a strip of shiny string. If you look closely, you should make out the word “DIESEL” written into the mircostitching. It is very hard to see, but all authentic pairs will have this. The side-stitching of the tag should be even and neat. Above the Indian head, you will find 6 embossed symbols. It appears as though it “spells” out “77 55 RR” Authentic pairs from before 2006 will have this. The newer tan tags do not have the numbers above it. Here are some pictures of real and fake tags:


Notice on the real tag how clean the stitching on the sides are. If you look closely, the embossed letters and numbers are visible. Overall, the tags look clean, the writing is a nice black and bold as well as properly sized.


This is an extreme close-up of the microstitching (it's a little pixelated and small, but it will suffice).  If you look closely, you can see little black letters, which spell "DIESEL" over and over again.

Now let’s compare those tags with some fake tags:


At first glance, the writing does not look bold enough and it is shallow, not to mention the font is off. The Indian head looks compressed a bit. The edges of the tags are sloppy and jagged. There is the “77 55 RR” embossed above the head (in the first 2 pics), but it’s not raised or defined enough. Finally, the microstiching is just a piece of shiny string or foil. The word “DIESEL” cannot be made out and the strip itself is jagged and sloppy. Fakers cut corners in order to cut the cost of the counterfeit item and this lack of attention to detail should be apparent. Overall, the fake tags look sloppy and cheap.


Unique Aspects of Cuts: Another easy way to tell if an item is fake is to examine some of the intricacies of individual cuts and washes. For example, ALL X-Rotucks have double waistline buttons. Another good one is the Cardiel cut only has one back pocket. If you come across any 2-back-pocket cardiels or and X-Rotucks with single waistline buttons, STAY FAR AWAY. Other notables are the double-back belt loop on Zathans or the slanted side belt loops on Zafs.

Unique Aspects of Washes: Many washes have their own unique aspects. For example, the 772 wash will have 3 patches of distressing on the front of the jeans. These distressings should penetrate through until the horizontal white threads are exposed. If it looks as if the distressing only sanded away some of the blue, then it’s probably fake. The 70C has a burn mark on the slanted Diesel strip on the coin pocket. I have never seen an authentic pair of 70C’s which lacks this feature. Every wash has its own intricacies and it would take far too long to list each and every one. The more you browse and the more you buy, the easier it will be to pick up on these details.

On a side-note, All Diesels will either have a leather D-patch by the waistline, OR a string-stitched D in the upper third of the right back pocket. NO authentic pair will ever have both.

Wash: Besides the tag, this is probably the easiest way to determine authenticity. After you get the hang of it, authenticating Diesels becomes fairly routine. Each and every wash should look high quality. These jeans all retail for 150+ dollars and the wash should reflect this. The fading should begin and end subtly, the rust should be well ingrained, the whiskering should be unique, etc…Fake Diesels will often display streaky washes, parallel and “perfect” whiskering, and sudden changes from faded and non-faded areas. Examples of fake washes are found below.

Fake 796:


Notice how streaky the bottom of the jeans are and notice how sudden the fading starts and ends.

Now compare with an authentic 796:



Another example of a fake 796. Look how streaky the wash is down the legs:


Fake 772:



In this first picture, there almost isn’t any distressing. It looks as though something just scratched the denim with sandpaper. In the second picture, the distressings are too noticeable and not deep enough. Also, the wash is very streaky and the streaks are much too parallel.

Now compare it to real 772s:


Notice how the horizontal white threads are showing. The distressing is subtle (save for the white) and present. Also, the wash is not as streaky and not as symmetrical and parallel. The whiskering is uneven.



Now that you all know the basics, get out there and see what you can do. I guarantee you that after a while, it will become more natural.

I want to thank Chris, the administrator and co-owner of Authenticforum  as well as eBay powersellers Treasurehoard and DieselOfMiami for use of their pictures.  If you need further help, consult the experts at Authenticforum.  I also happen to be a moderator at AF and I speak for my entire mod team when I say we'd love to help you out in any way possible!  Good luck eBaying!