How to spot a fake?
Discussion
A friend of mine just passed this to me - and told me it's a replica.
Now i'm no expert on these things and have tried comparing this to images on the weba dnt hings but i can't see a single difference between this oe and a genuine one.
It heavy, so feels the part and seems to be made of pretty good quality material, its an automatic.
I can't get rthe back off so have no idea what is inside it, but how on earth do you go about spotting a fake????
Apparently he picked it up in Bali on a recent holiday for less than a tenner.
I'm not wanting this thread to get into a debate regarding the rights and wrongs of fakes / replicas etc etc, they're wrong and i'd never condone owning one, i'm more interested in working out how to spot one.
What shoudl be on the rear of a rolex?
Now i'm no expert on these things and have tried comparing this to images on the weba dnt hings but i can't see a single difference between this oe and a genuine one.
It heavy, so feels the part and seems to be made of pretty good quality material, its an automatic.
I can't get rthe back off so have no idea what is inside it, but how on earth do you go about spotting a fake????
Apparently he picked it up in Bali on a recent holiday for less than a tenner.
I'm not wanting this thread to get into a debate regarding the rights and wrongs of fakes / replicas etc etc, they're wrong and i'd never condone owning one, i'm more interested in working out how to spot one.
What shoudl be on the rear of a rolex?
You would be able to tell straight away when viewing it "in the metal" against a real one.
Look for the etching of the rolex symbol in the glass at 6pm. If its very obvious to spot or not there atall, its a faker. Given he told you he bought it for a tenner in Bali I am not sure why you are wasting time checking!
Look for the etching of the rolex symbol in the glass at 6pm. If its very obvious to spot or not there atall, its a faker. Given he told you he bought it for a tenner in Bali I am not sure why you are wasting time checking!
I bought my father a Sub fake when I was about 16 - a friend was of to the Fakeast for a holiday so I asked him to bring me some watches back to give as cheap Christmas presents. What he brought back were two "Rolex's", and a "TAG". The TAG fell to pieces within a week (which was mine), the women's Rolex was noticeably fake but still very good quality for the money, but the Sub was (and still is) amazing.
It has a virtually perfect sweep motion and is still going strong to this day some 20 years later. The amazing thing was that my father took the back off when I first gave him it as it was losing time slightly and he's obsessive about watches being accurate to the Nth degree. What he revealed was a very good 17 jewel automatic movement. To this day it has kept perfect time.
It has a virtually perfect sweep motion and is still going strong to this day some 20 years later. The amazing thing was that my father took the back off when I first gave him it as it was losing time slightly and he's obsessive about watches being accurate to the Nth degree. What he revealed was a very good 17 jewel automatic movement. To this day it has kept perfect time.
Webber3 said:
Look at the Pearl and date wheel alignment first. The pearl on that one doesn't look right at all.
i'm surprised you can see the pearl, considering it's missing!it also looks to have a domed plexiglass crystal, which older ones had, but i'm not that much of a WIS to tell if it should or shouldn't have that
eccles said:
bazking69 said:
It is usually the movement that gives them away. Even the best fakes don't have that perfect seemless sweeping movement of the genuine article.
Is it just a 'standard' automatic movement in them, or is it a high beat movement?tertius said:
What is this "seemless sweeping movement" you refer to? Most Rolex movements run at 28,800 vph which is a completely ordinary frequency for an automatic movement - 8 ticks per second. They even slowed down the Zenith El Primero movement when the put it in the Daytona from its (exceptional) 36,000 vph when used by Zenith.
Indeed, Whilst you could say my Zenith 'sweeps', if you look closely enough you can still see a very small 'tick'
As for spotting fakes from photos? not sure that's 100% possible. If the fake is good enough and the photographs poor enough who is to tell?
If you have the watch to hand I find that the bracelet/strap is the easiest give away.
TheEnd said:
i'm sure i read somewhere that Seiko have been the only people to make a true sweep hand.
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TheEnd said:
i'm sure i read somewhere that Seiko have been the only people to make a true sweep hand.
I have a small collection of Bulova Accutrons from the 60's and 70's. They feature a true "sweep" second hand.Similar tuning fork movements, many licensed by Bulova, can be found in Omegas, Zenith, IWC, Baume Mercier,Tissot,the list goes on.
tertius said:
eccles said:
bazking69 said:
It is usually the movement that gives them away. Even the best fakes don't have that perfect seemless sweeping movement of the genuine article.
Is it just a 'standard' automatic movement in them, or is it a high beat movement?My Longines Ultra Chron runs at 36,000 vph and that is almost a seemless sweep, but if you look closely enough, you can just about see the 'ticks'.
Look at the size of the crown wheel.
Fakes are often larger than the original and very easy to spot.
If it has a Miyota 8215 movement, then it will last a long time and runs at 21,600, so will be pretty smooth, but not sweep rather tick. Although even that movement is being copied by the Chinese now!
Fakes are often larger than the original and very easy to spot.
If it has a Miyota 8215 movement, then it will last a long time and runs at 21,600, so will be pretty smooth, but not sweep rather tick. Although even that movement is being copied by the Chinese now!
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