Lil Baby needs to bend his ear for a minute ... celeb jeweler Ben Baller's offering sound advice on how the rapper can avoid another fake Patek Philippe watch fiasco.
We got Ben out in WeHo Tuesday morning to get his take on the "Drip Too Hard" rapper dropping $400,000 for one of the most luxurious watches in the world ... only to find out it was a total fake.
Ben -- who has done sick bling work for the likes of Elon Musk, Kid Cudi and A$AP Rocky, to name just a few -- says it all comes down to building relationships. How, specifically?
The celeb jeweler tells us Lil Baby's best bet is to hit up Patek Philippe authorized dealers on and buy small, establish yourself as a loyal client and build your way up.
For the uninitiated ... Lil Baby was hyped about copping the 40th-anniversary Nautilus Patek Philippe watch. Problem was ... after posting a pic on Instagram ahead of his arrival at the Met Gala, watch aficionados realized -- and alerted Lil Baby -- his watch was a fake.
The rapper was furious ... to the point he publicly called out the jeweler who sold him the watch, Rafaello & Co. The jeweler has since admitted it sold the rapper a fake by mistake.
The company also issued a public apology, gave Lil Baby a full refund and gifted him 4 diamond rings "as a token of our sincere apologies."
That's cool and all ... but Ben Baller's other big advice for Lil Baby -- never, EVER buy a Patek Philippe from a jeweler. The watch game right now is so insane ... there's only one place you'd wanna go to spend this kind of money for a luxurious watch.
BTW, because you're probably curious, the most expensive Patek Philippe watch ever sold went down at auction in Geneva in 2019 ... with the Grandmaster Chime selling for a whopping $31,194,370. 😱