An unbelievable copy that left me feeling slighty sick!!!

[Daytonaboy1977]

Hi guys

Just thought I would share this horrific clip from You tube and raise awareness of the obviously good copies coming from China.

This is quite gut wrenching as at a glance you could see how some poor soul would part with their hard earned cash!!! This watch in the video would pass to someone who is uneducated as a Deep Sea?? Even the fonts on the dial and the glide lock appear to be pretty spot on!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxW0vXkFQYA

I post this just purely to raise awareness of how good these copies are getting especially on the likes of the Deep Sea!!!

All I can say is be careful guys and make sure you do your homework if the copies are getting this good!

[do or die]

Not too sure, but i think that may be a genuine DS, fooling the masses into thinking that the replica that they buy is going to be as good as that.

[DWdrummer]

Our family friends own a pawn shop. The quality of some fakes is scary. Some even have gen parts on them. I have seen some fakes that blew my mind. I would never buy one but some poor SOB might thinking it's real and genuine. You have to pull the back on many of them these days to authenticate a watch. Scary indeed!

[conrail]

Thats a good looking copy - the operations seem fairly smooth on it, including clasp functions. However, once the caseback comes off and you're greeting with that all-"gold" asian movement, you know what you're really working with.

[Captainz]

I feel sick too

[psv]

The lack of respect of IP in certain segments in China in truly astonishing and borderline depressing. Fashion goods, clothing, software etc. You name it, they copy it.

[WJGESQ]

The sound of the watch back coming off was like pot metal.

Sounded very junky.

[Ken Cox]

The price of a Rolex has gotten high enough that the Chinese can make money with quality counterfeits.

If the seller doesn't have a new watch with proper packaging and documents, and a chain of custody paper trail all the way back to Switzerland, I wouldn't buy it.

[thesmallwave]

Look at the second hand, is not smooth, and the bezel doesn't look like ceramic to me.
Is better to own a single real Rolex all your life, then having to do with those sick fake ones.

[Numismatist]

This is the kind of thread that the fake-makers , they LEARN from it...

I'd suggest we close it down.

[Dr.Brian]

People write that all the time, but I don't think they learn anything from these threads. They buy an original and go to town. They can see the same differences that we can.
What's even more scary is that there are entire forums devoted to fake watches and people mod the fakes to make them even more unrecognizable. My next watch will likely be Pre owned, Day Date, but from a trusted seller only, and with proper matching paperwork.

[Treknology]

I am one of those people who cannot wear a standard "mechanical" watch because they are prone to extreme gain or loss of time and in some cases even going backwards (seriously) ! Therefore it has never occured to me to want something as finely crafted as a Rolex--rather like buying a car that does 270 km/h when the freeway limit is 110 and in a very few select places 115.

Whilst staying with friends, I visited a Sunday Market seeking a large-faced analog watch for another friend. At one stand where everything was extremely old, I picked up the "Rolex" photographed herewith for a meagre $10.00.

It cannot be wound, but started after some shaking. The second-hand sweeps the way it is supposed to do and the mag-spot in the glass (excuse me if I'm ignorant on the correct names for parts) at least to my eyes conforms with the 2.5X of the real thing.

After extensive net searching, the only disqualifying detail to an ignorant layman like myself is that the casing is chromed-brass but given the extreme wear and tear it seems logical that it could be genuine if Rolex has a "pre-Stainless Steel" history which could make this a surprisingly valuable find.

The "glass" has chipped internally and there are a few loose fragments, so I am being careful to keep the watch oriented "winder"-side up to prevent them from falling through the date display hole. I took it to a local jeweller but he doesn't want to look at it until late January because it would interfere with Christmas trading. Naturally I am getting more curious and therefore more impatient to determine if it is genuine or not.

The top legend reads:

<CROWN>
ROLEX
OYSTER PERPETUAL DATE
EXPLORER X

The lower reads:

SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER
OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED

I also bring to the reader's attention the red arrow counter-balancing the hour hand. The "diving bezel" rotates anti-clockwise and the arrows align with the minute/second graduations perfectly.

There are no markings on the back of the watch and as can be seen in the photo, the "coin grooving" surrounds the entire back-plate. I suspect that the fully stainless steel band is a replacement. I do not have the tools to remove the band, but when squinting into the "6" gap between band and case, there does appear to be some sort of marking where I believe the serial number is hidden.

So have a discovered Treasure or Trash? Should I be jumping up and down with delight or disgust? Should I be on-selling it to pay off my solar electricity installation, or should I be walking down-stairs to the machine shop and putting it under the 4-ton press?

Happy Christmas to those who celebrate it,

Mic

[Lol-x]

Sorry to say but that watch is pure junk.

It is the product of criminal activity and a breach of Rolex trademark.

[Treknology]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

Sorry to say but that watch is pure junk.

It is the product of criminal activity and a breach of Rolex trademark.

Why be sorry? In further research, I discovered that the "counter balance" arrow on the hour hand is in fact meant to be a fourth hand, but to what purpose I don't know.

I asked expecting an honest answer, and that's what I got -- it's junk. I can accept that. For the level of wear and tear, it will be an interesting exercise to establish just how old it really is but, I'm not going to delude myself that I went digging for worms and struck gold.

On the other hand, a forum of people who really know their favorite product is in itself a pot of gold. So I may well be back with photos of how it came out of the press...

[Randy9999]

When the folks here say "sorry" in this context, they're not apologizing because any given watch is junk. Rather, they're "sorry" for the watch owner that he's not sitting on a valuable piece when, perhaps, said owner may have hoped otherwise. It's strictly a matter of polite discourse and care in case a fellow member's hopes were dashed or in case a significant monetary outlay was lost. In your case, it's clear you sport no feelings one way or the other regarding the matter, but the focus on "Why be sorry?" rather than "Thanks for responding" seems a bit misplaced.

[robertneville]

Originally Posted by lol-x

sorry to say but that watch is pure junk.

It is the product of criminal activity and a breach of rolex trademark.

x2!

[radinc]

a broken faux rolex is worth less than $10 imo......... but I'm sure you got at least $10 of fun out of researching and learning about rolexes for a day?

[Treknology]

Originally Posted by radinc

a broken faux rolex is worth less than $10 imo......... but I'm sure you got at least $10 of fun out of researching and learning about rolexes for a day?

I tend to agree with you there. A pair of Faux Nike shoes wouldn't bother me though, because they all come out of the same factory anyway--but I do know that Rolex has a strong and proud tradition of maintaining its quality. There are still two items on which I'm unclear and haven't found whilst researching:

In what year did Rolex adopt fully Stainless Steel casings?
What purpose is served by the fourth hand with the red arrow on the end? Another timezone perhaps? A 24-hour instead of 12-hour hand?

Randy9999: I did understand that but it wasn't like I was expecting to win the lottery. As I said in my original question, my body won't let me wear a purely mechanical watch :( , so even if it turned out to be genuine it would only be resold or given away.

[cajunron]

I had to laugh when I saw the numbers on the bezel are oriented facing inside AND outside! Like they couldn't make up their mind which way to go!

[Treknology]

Originally Posted by rgdejong

I had to laugh when I saw the numbers on the bezel are oriented facing inside AND outside! Like they couldn't make up their mind which way to go!

I should have picked that up for myself! That dispels all doubt.

I'll also post a correction: When I said "EXPLORER X", I was wrong. In better light I can see that it is "EXPLORER II". Not that it makes much difference now...

[ParisDakarBmw]

http://www.sinowatches.com/scam.asp

Ha!

They have list of people who scammed them, and stole pictures with their watermark!

What idiots!

[hdrazor251]

Originally Posted by rgdejong

I had to laugh when I saw the numbers on the bezel are oriented facing inside AND outside! Like they couldn't make up their mind which way to go!

They do that on the Explorer II. Except on the real ones, the bezel does not rotate so the 24 hr mark is always at the 12 o'clock position.

[Treknology]

I took the offending item to the local representative jeweller and without even opening it he confirmed it a fake.

Putting it under the press achieved very little, so I'm taking it back to him to have the back removed so I can pull out all the bits and come up with some weird piece of art for Instructables.com.

But having dug up so much information and fascination on Rolex, I'm now going to work my way up to a real one. I just thought I would ask some people's opinions about other fakes.

Rolex highly engineers the product and strives for the best shining crown in horology. What about "Hypathetic" sports shoes, when you know the real ones are manufactured for about 50c by some starving Taiwanese kids and then turn up in sports stores to $250-300. In my own case, I avoid such products because of the disgusting ethics of Hypathetic. How do other people feel about buying a Hypathetic sports shoe for $40.00 when you know those starving workers are still getting their 50c, but Hypathetic is being cut out of the picture? This is about morality not legality.

I bought a fake pair of Hypathetic sunglass across eBay. I was actually hoping they were genuine and that the vendor did not realize their worth so I could make a little profit, but after only 10 seconds inspection, they are definitely fake. I still wear them anyway because when people comment, I send them to the correct store to buy the real thing--so in this case I feel I'm doing Hypathetic an advertising favor.

I bought these glasses reasonably believing that they could be genuine. If someone lists a Korg M1 keyboard for $1 [buy it now] I'ld be an idiot not to grab it

Where do other people draw the gray areas? In Australia, we just had a huge raid on fake brand-name clothing. $45 for the "real" T-shirt, $25.00 for the "fake". Now as both T-shirts probably originate from the same Chinese factory for about $5 each, which is the fraud? The $20 screen print, or the $40 screen print? Even on these shoddy low cost products with totally immoral markups, I'm not saying I would deliberately seek out a fake, but if I ended up with one through circumstance, am I doing the wrong thing by wearing/using it? Where this raid took place, the customers were unaware that the goods on offer were fake.

Lastly, getting back to the Explorer II, the hour hand is 'counterbalanced' by a slender hand with a red triangle pointer. I reasonably believe this is meant to be a fourth hand. If so, can someone enlighten me on its purpose?

Obviously Hypathetic is fictitious: Hype + Pathetic, and is not to be seen as a negative comment on the quality of genuine Rolex products.

Mic

[cedargrove]

Originally Posted by Treknology

ILastly, getting back to the Explorer II, the hour hand is 'counterbalanced' by a slender hand with a red triangle pointer. I reasonably believe this is meant to be a fourth hand. If so, can someone enlighten me on its purpose?

On the real watch, this is a 24 hour hand (not a counterbalance). You would read it against the numbers on the bezel.

[Welshwatchman]

Originally Posted by Treknology

I took the offending item to the local representative jeweller and without even opening it he confirmed it a fake.

Putting it under the press achieved very little, so I'm taking it back to him to have the back removed so I can pull out all the bits and come up with some weird piece of art for Instructables.com.

It took me 0.1sec to determine that the "GMT" in question was an awful fake. So much so I'd not want to have it near me, who knows what crap is in that alloy.

Just bin it like you should have done one year ago.

[TSW]

[Treknology]

Originally Posted by cedargrove

On the real watch, this is a 24 hour hand (not a counterbalance). You would read it against the numbers on the bezel.

Therefore I would have an Astronomical time piece. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Welshwatchman

It took me 0.1sec to determine that the "GMT" in question was an awful fake. So much so I'd not want to have it near me, who knows what crap is in that alloy.

Just bin it like you should have done one year ago.

Keeping it inspires me to want the real thing.

[BOA]

Originally Posted by Daytonaboy1977

Hi guys

Just thought I would share this horrific clip from You tube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxW0vXkFQYA

The video is no longer available as the user's account has been terminated.

[cajunron]

Originally Posted by hdrazor251

They do that on the Explorer II. Except on the real ones, the bezel does not rotate so the 24 hr mark is always at the 12 o'clock position.

Then that's why it looked so odd to me, the bezel was upside down!