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How to Spot a Super Fake Rolex

The Rolex name has enjoyed many superlatives throughout its history. Not only has it been crowned the “world’s most reputable company” for the fourth year in a row by the Reputation Institute, but according to Morgan Stanley, Rolex also has the biggest market share among the 350 brands that make up the Swiss watch market, with an estimated annual turnover of over $5 billion. And in case that isn’t enough, Rolex is the current record holder for the most expensive wristwatch ever sold at auction when Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona sold for $17.8 million in 2017.

However, as with any luxury brand at the top of its game, with the glory also comes the undesirable side effect of being knocked off. In the case of Rolex, it happens to be the most counterfeited luxury watch brand in the market. When you produce some of the most sought-after luxury goods ever made, there will inevitably be counterfeiters right behind you trying to capitalize on your renowned name. Which is why is it important to know how to spot a fake Rolex when the market is replete with so many forgeries. 

In the past, it used to be relatively easy to spot a fake Rolex since the quality of the replicas was so poor. However, with the rise of the Rolex super fakes, consumers must be even more vigilant to avoid inadvertently buying a replica Rolex. The quality and execution of the new Rolex super fakes are incredibly convincing these days thanks to the accessibility of sophisticated machinery and cutting-edge technology.

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To help you protect us from the counterfeits, we asked Paul Altieri, founder and CEO of Bob’s Watches — a leading pre-owned Rolex exchange — to examine three fake Rolex watches at different price points to give us a general guide on what to look for.

The $50 Fake Rolex Watch

Bob's Watches Real/Fake

As expected with a price point this low, $50 fake Rolex watches are pretty poor quality with plenty of details that give away their forged nature. For instance, real Rolex Day-Date President watches are exclusively made in solid precious metals such as gold or platinum. So, if you have a gold-plated President in hand, it’s a fake.

Furthermore, cheap fake Rolex watches almost always use cheap quartz movements. While not all Rolex watches are automatic — there have been quartz Rolex models over the years such as the Oysterquartz, Rolex 5100 and select Cellini models — if you see a quartz-powered Rolex with the word “Perpetual” on the dial (i.e. Day-Date, Datejust, Submariner, GMT-Master, Explorer, and others) then it’s a fake. The term “Perpetual” is the Rolex name for a self-winding movement and genuine automatic Rolex watches should house a seconds hand that sweeps smoothly around the dial rather than abruptly tick from one position to the next.

Bob's Watches Real/Fake

If you look closely at the dial of a $50 fake Rolex, chances are that the text is printed poorly; it’s either lopsided or the letters are fat or bleed rather than the clean, sharp, and perfectly aligned text of a genuine Rolex dial. 

What’s more, a real Rolex Cyclops lens will magnify the date 2.5 times where the digits should fill the entire lens. Low-cost fake Rolex watches will have lenses on the crystal that do not magnify the date nearly as much, so keep an eye out for those specific details.

The $200 Fake Rolex Watch

Bob's Watches Real/Fake

The $200 fake Rolex is typically better quality than the cheaper replicas — for example, they tend to run on automatic movements. But they still have plenty of red flags that you can spot upon closer inspection. 

For example, the text is normally still not sharp and precise, the Cyclops lens is not magnifying as it should and details such as lume-filled hour markers tend to bubble rather than being flat.

Bob's Watches Real/Fake

If you can open up the caseback of a fake Rolex, the movement is usually a dead giveaway of a counterfeit piece. If you’re not sure, don’t try this at home. Authentic Rolex movements are constructed, finished and engraved to a level of quality well beyond those automatic movements found in fake Rolex watches costing around $200. 

Look at the jewels, the execution of the text and number engravings and the quality of materials used. Counterfeiters of mid-priced fake Rolex watches bank on the fact that you won’t see the movement up close so they do not put in the effort to make a believable movement.

The $500 Super Fake Rolex Watch

Bob's Watches Real/Fake

In recent years, the so-called “super fakes” have been coming to market, which are exceedingly good copies of best-selling Rolex watches and cost priced around $500 or more. These knockoffs have automatic movements, well-executed dials, magnification lenses that come very close to those of the genuine Rolex and can even have ceramic bezels.

Makers of the super fakes also take great care to make sure details like the bracelet and clasp are as close to the genuine design as possible, complete with extension systems. Even the interiors of the casebacks are properly engraved and copycat movements are almost indistinguishable from genuine ones, down to details such as blue hairsprings.

It takes a true expert to tell the difference between a super fake and a genuine Rolex watch. Often the slight variations — subtle color differences, metal finishes, detail placements — can only be spotted when the watches are placed side-by-side. Hands down, your best tool against getting deceived by a super fake Rolex watch is to buy from a trusted source.

Whereas there are many sites that offer quality guarantees on timepieces sold, authenticity of Rolex watches is the top priority at Bob’s Watches. 

“We back every Rolex watch we sell with a Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee,” Altieri tells us. “We have a team of experts who carefully inspect each piece that comes through our doors to ensure that every watch that we list is 100 percent guaranteed authentic. We have the experts, tools and resources to weed out the super fakes from the genuine Rolex watches.”

Buying a fake Rolex, even at the best quality possible, is never worth it. Not only is it illegal to buy, sell or possess forgeries — with legal repercussions in the US spanning from hefty fines to jail time — the vast sums of money made from counterfeit products have been linked to the drug trade, human trafficking, child labor and other horrific criminal activities you likely wouldn’t want to be inadvertently supporting.

Always buy the real deal and depend on trusted sources to spot the fake Rolex watches for you. It’s worth the investment and will be a much better gift should you choose to pass it on to your next generation. Even if you were OK with a fake, it’s probably better just to hand over some cash instead of a knockoff watch of any kind.  

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via https://www.DMTBeautySpot.com

Barret Wertz, Khareem Sudlow