Authenticity of Original Rolex Watches Versus Counterfeits

Rolex watches project an image of confidence and wealth, making them a popular accessory among the affluent. This global recognition, however, fuels a constant stream of counterfeits and imitations. The main falsifier is China. How to spot a fake Rolex? Counterfeits are of poor quality and low price (from 25 to 200 dollars). Over the years, the quality of workmanship has increased. Even experts find it increasingly difficult to distinguish them from branded Swiss watches.

Appearance of original Rolex watches

Frame

The line has watches with a glass case, but there are no models with a completely transparent panel. Since the 1930s, this technique has been a mainstay in the company's production process. Private collectors cherish rare vintage models equipped with transparent back covers. Modern Rolex watches, with their closed case backs, offer robust protection against damage.

When trying it on, the buyer should feel the weight of the metal and sapphire glass . If a thing is too light, it means that cheap materials were used for its production. Most likely, when checked, the accessory will turn out to be counterfeit.

Crown

This watch has a small crown near the number “12” - the brand logo. It is small in size. You can examine it carefully using a magnifying glass. There are raised circles on the edges of the crown. If the logo is made handicraft, sloppy. Its outline does not shine, which means that the buyer is looking at a fake.

Genuine Rolex lens

On most company watches you can find the date indicator in the right corner near the number “3”. Above it is a magnifying lens. On Chinese fakes it is not possible to recreate this detail and ordinary glass is used. If, when you point at the numbers, the lens does not magnify the image, then you need to refuse the purchase.

The original has the entire date included in the lens. An important point: branded watches are equipped with a magnifying glass that makes the numbers 2.5 times larger. High-quality replicas also have magnifying glasses. They enlarge the image smaller than the original.

Clock face

The craftsman clearly engraves all inscriptions and numbers on this watch, maintaining consistent spacing between each character. Any "walking" of the lettering or errors in the markings indicate a handcrafted timepiece.

The purchased model lasts a long time and will suit any style of clothing. To produce the case, the brand uses 904L steel, which is rust-resistant. Rolex itself smelts precious alloys to ensure the movement's exceptional strength.

When purchasing, the buyer needs to inspect every detail: lock, case, dial and hands. If something seems cheap, fragile, or flimsy in appearance, it is better not to buy the model. The company carefully monitors the quality of the goods and will not allow the sale of defective watches.

Glass

Rolex uses solid sapphire crystals to produce its watches. They don't scratch. If there are abrasions on the surface or traces of mechanical damage remain, it means the seller is trying to sell a fake. Another way to check whether the glass you need is to drop a little water on it. On real sapphire glass, all the water will collect in one large drop, but on ordinary glass it will spread over the entire surface.

Marking and engraving

The letters and numbers are engraved deeply, and the spacing between characters remains consistent." Change to "Deeply engraved letters and numbers maintain consistent spacing throughout. At the same time, the application has: the font is quite thin; if you turn the watch at an angle, the inscription will shimmer like a cut diamond.

Another point at which cheap Chinese fakes are “cut off” is the presence of engraving on the back of the watch. Rolex does not engrave inscriptions, designs, or logos on the back of the product, with the exception of a few models. The surface of the back cover is smooth. The engraving appears on early women's watches released in the 90s and on the Sea-Dweller model. On replicas and Chinese fakes, this is done not with special equipment, but by etching. If you look at it under a magnifying glass, the letters seem to consist of small dots like grains of sand.

Movement of a real Rolex watch

If you look at an ordinary kitchen clock, a person clearly sees sharp jerks of the second hand and hears ticking. Rolex products practically do not tick. This sound can be heard if you listen hard enough. Watch brands that produce expensive models try to ensure that the movement of the second hand occurs without jerking and very smoothly. If a store watch is sold like a Rolex and ticks loudly, it is a replica or a fake model of low quality.

In the original, the hand indicating the seconds does not twitch, but runs smoothly across the dial. She doesn’t slow down, doesn’t speed up, doesn’t twitch. In fact, the hand of a branded watch also makes small jerking movements, but their number reaches eight times per second. The human eye recognizes this as a smooth ride.

Holograms

After production, original Rolex watches are sealed with a special holographic 3D sticker. It depicts the brand logo - a crown. If you rotate the watch at different angles, the crown will begin to shimmer in the light.

Unscrupulous companies cannot reproduce the technology for making a hologram and simply print a sticker. The picture will not change when the angle of inclination changes. The crown appeared on watches produced after 2002. Recently, Rolex has completely abandoned the protection of its products with a hologram, but it is still found on earlier watches.

Triple Crown

A number of well-known models (Submariner, Sea-Dweller and Daytona) use the Triplock triple crown. If you open its mechanism, you can see a rubber ring inside. The fakes have a regular screw thread in this place. Such rubber rings are already found on replicas, but they are usually for external beauty and do not have any special functions. The original item has three dots inside the logo on the surface of the crown.

Arrows

Real Yacht-Master watches use thicker hands than those in the sports line. Unscrupulous companies do not know this feature. Trying to save money, they put arrows from another model (Submariner) in them. The easiest way to understand where is the original and where is the counterfeit is by holding two watches in different hands and comparing them.

In low-quality replicas and Chinese fake models, the manufacturer often puts hands with the wrong length or shape. Such companies purchase spare parts and components in stock stores, where they are cheaper, and do not take into account many subtleties during production. For example, on an original Daytona watch the minute hand reaches the outer scale, but on a replica it is shorter. On a real product, the arrows have rounded edges, but on fake ones they put any parts that fit.

Daytona registers

On the Rolex Daytona you will notice that there are mini chronograph registers on the dial. The presence of this device can also be found in counterfeit products. It will reflect the date, days of the week and other parameters, but it does not always function correctly or produces incorrect data.

The interval between them is larger, and the registers themselves are smaller than on branded watches. They should almost touch the hour markers at the numbers “3”, “6”, “9”. As a rule, on fakes they are displaced.

Waterproof

Many buyers have heard about the water resistance of watches and the hardness of sapphire crystal. They try to distinguish the counterfeit from the original, acting in extreme ways.

Watches subjected to experiments are non-returnable. Some collectors, in a bid to test water resistance and movement quality, resort to the risky practice of dunking their watches and then freezing them. However, the efficacy of this method remains shrouded in uncertainty.. It is not clear whether the branded watch survived the tests without harm.