The Rolex name exudes beauty and elegance. It’s a highly desirable brand of luxury watches. This desirability means increased demand for the watches. However, it also means a booming counterfeit Rolex market. The sheer number of these fake watches available and the ingenuity with which these replicas are made can easily trick even the most discerning buyers. If you are looking to buy a Rolex in your country of travel, keep reading to make sure you’re not being handed out a fake.
The Price
A Rolex watch is quite expensive compared to a regular watch. In fact, the company knows that its timepieces are out of reach of most people. Which is why they created Tudor, a sub-brand that gets people closer to the Rolex experience at a more affordable price. If the new Rolex you’re looking at is cheaper than a Tudor, it’s most certainly a fake. Rolex watches are hand-made. They need high-level of craftsmanship and up to a year of making. All of the effort and time that goes into making a Rolex entails money which demonstrates that they don’t solely depend on the brand name to charge a hefty premium.
The Seller
If the Rolex watch was from a trustworthy and reputed seller, it most likely is the real deal. Do a search online to locate reputable Rolex watch dealers in your country of visit. Genuine luxury watch dealers invariably back their products with an authenticity guarantee certificate or document. This authenticity certificate is issued after the dealer’s in-house team of watch experts have meticulously inspected the watch.
No Ticking Sound
A genuine Rolex watch doesn’t make loud ticking sounds like quartz movement watches do. A Rolex watch is based on an automatic movement. Due to the extremely fine mechanical second hand ticking, there is no clear second hand jerk that’s synonymous with quartz watches. Having said that, Rolex has also made battery-powered quartz watches. If your Rolex is battery-powered and it ticks, it can still be an original. Also, the second hand in a Rolex indicates a secondary time-zone. Rolex employs as many mechanical components as possible in the watch to ensure smooth second hand rotation. If the second hand behaves in a jerky manner, the watch is a fake.
Engraved Serial Number
Every single Rolex watch produced contains an original Rolex serial number. Though the serial number could be replicated, a charlatan would not be able to engrave it in the metal body of the watch the way Rolex does. Rolex engraves the serial numbers on the smooth and high-quality metal body perfectly and precisely. Fake Rolex watches, on the other hand, have serial numbers etched. If your Rolex has chemically-etched numbers, return the watch immediately to the seller.
Holograms
Older Rolex watches came with hologram stickers. When viewed from an angle, the background pattern of the sticker changed in appearance. Counterfeit stickers aren’t holograms, but a repetitious pattern that doesn’t change appearance even when viewed from multiple angles. Starting 2007, Rolex stopped using holograms since counterfeiters are able to reproduce holograms much better. Therefore, if you bought a Rolex post 2007 and it came with a hologram, it’s most probably a fake.
Conclusion
When you are on the move, it’s not advisable to buy an item as expensive as a Rolex watch unless you are absolutely sure of the seller. Unfortunately, there is no getting around the premium price of Rolex watches. Discover Rolex at CHRONEXT if you want to skip the Rolex waiting lines and truly care about the genuineness.