How to spot a fake Rolex? We give you some tips
Rolex is one of the most recognized brands worldwide, not only for the reliability and precision of its watches but also for conferring a status of elegance and austerity on those who own them, so it is not difficult to guess that millions of fake Rolex are produced a year, many of them more and more similar to the originals, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake, so we have put together a set of tips that can help you identify a fake Rolex, however, we leave here the caveat that resorting to professional help is the safest option that can save you from losing a few thousand euros, so we recommend when buying a Rolex or other watch from another brand that you do it from an authorized dealer or a reputable watch dealer.
We then move on to the tips:
– Case: The text between the lugs on the top and the bottom on the false ones is generally thicker and with a poor finish compared to the original.
– Crown: the fake is a little thicker than the genuine one and with the exception of older models, genuine Rolex watches have a screw-down crown. When you unscrew the crown it is normal to feel a little resistance, but once unscrewed, its handling becomes very smooth whether we are winding, or adjusting the time or date.
– Bezel: in the fake one, we can see that the numbers on the bezel are whiter and the lume a little darker. While on genuine Rolex the numbers on the bezel are applied in platinum using a PVD process, on the false the numbers are usually painted and appear brighter and also more irregular.
– Glass: with exception of older vintage models, Rolex watches use sapphire glass so dip your finger in water, slide it across the glass, and if it’s sapphire, the water will retract. The cyclops of the date on the genuine Rolex enlarge 2.5 times the date numbers and use anti-reflective material under it which makes it easier to read, while on the fake ones the glass is more coarse, enlarging 1.5 times, and has a more blue anti-reflective coating. Another tip is the small laser-etched crown at 6 o’clock, which is hard to be seen with the naked eye, but with a magnifier glass or through a certain angle it’s possible to observe, the genuine one is etched with tiny dots within the sapphire crystal while on the fake one usually are larger and made with a bigger and untidy dots or with a continuous line.
– Dial: The inner ring with “ROLEX ROLEX…” is more angled on the fake. It’s engraved or laser etched (on the modern ones), at 12 o’clock is the crown of the Rolex logo and at 6 o’clock are the serial number, on the right-hand side of the dial, from the 1 down to 5 o’clock the “X” of Rolex is going to line up with the hour markers and on the left-hand side of the dial, from the 7 up to 11 o’clock the “R” of Rolex is going to line up with the hour markers, if that doesn’t happen is because it’s a fake one. Another point to observe is the way how the text is executed, which is super cleaned, super sharp and perfectly executed on the genuine ones. The hour markers and the hands on the edges are coarser on the fakes ones. The space of inscriptions on the dial is also different with the M of 300 meters being spaced out further on the genuine and with the font size being thinner on the fake ones. The date numbers aren’t as centered and sharped printed as the original.
– Movement: if you can hear the clock ticking, without holding it to your ear, it is a fake, a Rolex makes a very low movement, but very fast. The second hand does not move continuously over the genuine ones, the second-hand makes eight small clicks per second. Another way is to look through the open case back and hack the movement by pulling the crown so that the movements stop, look for the micro stellar screws on the balance wheel, they are small screws that protrude from the balance wheel, if you find them, it is a genuine modern Rolex, used to regulate its movements, but if you have not found them, it is very likely to be fake.
– Bracelet: the alignment of the screws in the fake is far from the leveling observed in the genuine ones, as well as the text engraved on the clasps, which are more coarse and with a bad finish compared to the originals.
If you have other interesting tips, please share them here with us, we are very interested to know.
