With the growth of technology it has become hard for genuine Rolex watch manufacturers to prevent other companies from imitating their products. With features like ‘president’s’ bracelet, gemstones and other precious metals on the real Rolex watches, it has become even hard for watch collectors to distinguish a fake one which lacks these features with the naked eye.
The replicas are made of the exact look, name and color. They are not the only challenge original watch manufacturers’ face, there are other watches with same look and color but different name, clones. With the counterfeit industry growing at an ever increasing pace, the criminal expansion posses a real threat to Rolex as it adversely affects the market for real Rolex watches. They are sold as genuine Rolex watches to enthusiasts who are unable to notice them and lured by their cheap price.
Fakes and clones can in no way match true Rolex watches in terms of functionality, performance and precision. To prevent being fooled or attracted by the way low price, it’s wise that every clever buyer should thorough study of the various features that distinguish the faux from the real watches:
1. Weight of the watch; all authentic Rolex watches are quite heavy since they are made of solid gold, steel or platinum. On the other hand inexpensive ones are lightweight.
2. Case Backs; modern Rolex watches don’t have a clear case back, a variety of faux ones come clear case backs which are almost non-existent in the vintage Rolex models.
3. Case Back Markings; all authentic and current Rolex models have a hologram encoded sticker on the case back that contains the watch’s model reference number along with the Rolex crown just above it. Fake models may be engraved with famous Rolex crown logo, model number, serial number and other reference numbers on the case backs which are not found on authentic ones.
4. Sweeping Movement; In original Rolex watches, except Rolex Oyster quartz, the second hand displays a sweeping movement as it ticks at the rate of 5-8 times per second. Cheap imitations on the other hand, have a second hand that may tick only once per second and not smooth as a real one.
5. Crystal; all Rolex models rolled out after 1991 have were outfitted with a laboratory made synthetic sapphire crystal that has a clear white appearance. Fake models either have a glass or plastic crystal, with some having a milky white appearance.
6. Finish; identification of faux stainless steel Rolex watches is the most difficult, but this isn’t true in the case of gold versions as faux ones look brassy unlike how the 18k gold appears in authentic models.
7. Cyclops; in original watches, the Cyclops lens attached to the crystal and found over the date apertures magnifies the date by 2.5 times. Counterfeit lenses magnify the date at a maximum of 1.5 times. Also, they are slightly low or high positioned than it should be on the crystal.
8. Illumination Markings; illumination markings on the hour and minute hands of genuine watches glow for a longer period of time in the dark once charged with direct light. In replica ones they are only for show.
9. Winding crown; winding crowns in genuine Rolex watches are not only smooth but also don’t make a lot of noise while being unscrewed. In imitations, winding crowns aren’t smooth to operate.
10. Crown seal; all Rolex watches featuring a Triplock crown have an additional seal, looking like a rubber o-ring. It can be seen when you unscrew the winding stem completely, such a seal isn’t present in most counterfeit models.
11. Date Wheels; date wheels are usually positioned at the centre of the date aperture in genuine watches, in faux watches its misaligned.
12. Bracelet configurations; as opposed to genuine Rolex bracelets, fake ones have either poor quality gold plating, tight and often remain tightly kinked when picked by the buckle.
Important functionalities; all current Rolex models have a ‘hacking feature’, second hand stops dead when the winding stem is pulled out to set the time. The entire 24-hour found in GMT may not be purely visible in fake ones.
