Authenticity Question About My Recent Purchase

[theamay]

I just purchased a Rolex watch from a long-time acquaintance who needed money. I paid $2000 for the watch and asked no questions. I have seen her wear this watch for as long as I have known her, 10+ years, so assumed the watch to be genuine.

The crystal does not have a magnifier "bubble" and is scratched. Yesterday, I drove the watch to the nearest Rolex dealer about an hour away to have the crystal replaced. The owner of the store stated "this watch is suspect because it doesn't have a magnifier - this crystal is flat." I said I just figured the previous owner had it replaced with a flat crystal, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be a fake as I knew she would have had the means to buy a genuine one years ago. The store owner then said that Rolex doesn't make flat replacement crystals, so it's a fake. Of course, I left there broken-hearted.

I just can't believe this watch is not genuine as it feels so heavy and it truly looks real and sparkly. Hoping I can get some opinions -
Here is the info from the watch:
ROLEX
Oyster Perpetual
DATE
superlative chronometer
officially certified
T • swiss made • T
It is all white metal, with 32 small bead-set white diamonds around the bezel, the face is blue. The second hand "sweeps" and it will stop when I pull the winder out. The hands have glow-in-the-dark on them, and there are also glow dots at the number spots. The number spots are diamonds, not numbers.
I removed the band and it is stamped JBJ990721 under 6 o'clock.
There is nothing at all stamped above the 12 o'clock.
There is nothing at all stamped on the back of the watch.
The watch band is stamped "ITALY JBJ", but the second "J" is backwards, "18KT" and there is an outline of what I think might be the country of Italy.
Is this enough information to determine its authenticity, or should I try to take some photos?

[pdoukas]

Detailed images will go a long way here. Please post some so the experts can chime in.


Sent from a guy on mobile phone who could care less about spelling errors!

[mjclark32]

Pics please

[kooltzar]

There are no Rolex Serial numbers beginning with 3 letters kike JBJ..., but that could and should have been checked already at the RLX dealer/service

[theamay]

okay, hopefully these photos are clear enough. my lighting is terrible, sorry, everything looks yellow.

[MonBK]

As per your description and without seeing it your watch is fake.

[theamay]

MonBK, even after looking at the photos, you believe this to be not genuine?

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by theamay

MonBK, even after looking at the photos, you believe this to be not genuine?

Honestly, do you really believe that you bought a white gold 18k Rolex with a president bracelet for $2,000?

[MrX]

Can you remove the caseback and verify the movement in it, or ask the dealer to do so?

The bar underneath the coronet on the crown would indicate it is a SS case, I believe, so the bracelet could be aftermarket?

How heavy is it? An 18kt watch should feel very substantial.


I have to say, though, it does not look like the genuine article at this moment in time, I'm afraid.

[theamay]

I did have the watch tested by a local goldsmith, and it did prove to be 18K, but the person knew nothing about whether it was genuine Rolex or not, only that the quality mark 18K was correct.
I could try to remove the caseback, do you have a link showing how to do it? The dealer yesterday did not remove the watch band to look at the serial number. I did that myself this morning.

[theamay]

it weighs 2.605 ounces
I am not sure if the watch itself was tested, or just the band. At the time, it didn't occur to me to ask that.

[globalmedia33]

I'm sorry but this Rolex is FAKE.

[Vincent65]

"it feels so heavy and it truly looks real and sparkly." - oh dear! Just because she wore it for 10+ years, doesn't make it genuine. Looks iffy to me, sorry.

[MrX]

2.605 ounce = 73.85 gram

If we assume the watch head weighs 23.85g (to make calculations easy), and that the bracelet is actually solid 18kt gold, this website http://goldprice.org/Calculators/Gol...lculators.html says gold is currently over US$48 per gram, which makes the band worth US$2,400 or so (which will vary depending on where you sold it for scrap).

I would ask the Dealer to remove the caseback. Take some photos of the movement to post here. (The Dealer will tell you straight away if it is a genuine Rolex movement or not.)

If it is not genuine, ask him to remove the bracelet and then, when you leave the shop, you can visit your local "Cash4Gold" sort of places and see what prices they are offering. (Do not let the bracelet leave your sight, of course!) It may be that, if the bracelet is solid 18kt, you make more money than you spent on it, which would be a good outcome. This website http://www.comparegoldprice.co.uk/ seems to show that the value is markedly different depending on where you go / send the bracelet, so do shop around as fully as you can.


Of course, if the head isn't genuine and the bracelet is merely plated gold (it doesn't look to have 'worn through' to a substrate metal, though, so it may well be solid gold), or the scrap value of the gold is less than the amount you paid for it, you will need to have a word with your friend...


Just as a quick check, which way do the hands move when you move the crown to the time-setting position and turn it away from you?

[theamay]

Are you thinking the Rolex watch part is fake, but someone put a solid 18K gold band on it? Also, the goldsmith did say the diamonds around the bezel were genuine. However, she didn't test the numeric diamonds, obviously because she didn't take the crystal off. So, I am thinking, maybe along with the 18K band, the bezel might be 18K too, and that was also added to the fake part?
My gosh, I am trying to find something good that will come of this, in that the $2K I spent would maybe equal the amount of gold.
I appreciate your replies, though disheartening.

[theamay]

thanks MrX. I just read your post after I submitted my last one.
Okay, when I unscrew and pull out the winder, I have to pull it out two clicks to get the hands to move. The hands will move clock-wise when I turn the winder away from me. In other words, the hands move clock-wise when I turn the winder clock-wise.
Also, I swam repeatedly with this watch on, and it hasn't taken on water yet.

[crowncollection]

The watch case is fake and not solid Gold it is missing hallmarks everywhere a legal requirement of most first world nations including Switzerland. You are missing Rolex hallmarks everywhere. The band is not Rolex it is missing hallmarks and stamping whether it gold or not who knows. The bezel is not original Rolex, it has the wrong number of diamonds to be a rolex part. Whether someone put a realivent in the fake case who knows. Three quarters of the watch is fake and its worth scrap gold if it is gold, sorry to break such bad news.

[Kyu]

well the bezel is certainly not factory,
those diamond colors and clarity are way off from factory. Plus they arnt even same with each other.
The dial looks tricky as well, But would have to see a same year dial for comparrasion

there should be serials stamped on the side of the case where the bracelets meet and the bracelets should have serials stamped on it.
if it has been serviced before they have a special indication that it has been serviced.

or is this before they started to do all of that
because the watch it's self looks reaaaaaaaaally old

[chicfarmer1]

No cyclops and an awful lot of bling for a "Date"--

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Hopefully selling the bracelet will cover your $2,000.

[MoBe]

When it comes to jewelry,never trust a woman.

[T-Rip]

Originally Posted by MoBe

When it comes to jewelry,never trust a woman.

[chicfarmer1]

^I'm attributing that one to happy hour/divorce proceedings somewhere on earth.

[dalip]

Originally Posted by MoBe

When it comes to jewelry,never trust a woman.

That just earned you another set of infractions. You clearly have a set of issues that seem to impede your ability to communicate in an appropriate way.

These points added to your others will have earned you 3 months of vacation time away from TRF.

Maybe use the time to sort yourself out.

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Originally Posted by dalip

That just earned you another set of infractions. You clearly have a set of issues that seem to impede your ability to communicate in an appropriate way.

These points added to your others will have earned you 3 months of vacation time away from TRF.

Maybe use the time to sort yourself out.

Harsh, but well deserved.

Thank Dalip for keeping it civil.

[caryyee]

Definitely not an all original Rolex.
- Crystal is aftermarket
- Dial - I don't know of any factory dials that have both diamond hours markers AND luminous hour markers.
- Bracelet - looks President-like, but they were never fitted to Date models, only Day-Date models.
- Can't see any case back hall marks?

[handsfull]

Originally Posted by crowncollection

The watch case is fake and not solid Gold it is missing hallmarks everywhere a legal requirement of most first world nations including Switzerland. You are missing Rolex hallmarks everywhere. The band is not Rolex it is missing hallmarks and stamping whether it gold or not who knows. The bezel is not original Rolex, it has the wrong number of diamonds to be a rolex part. Whether someone put a realivent in the fake case who knows. Three quarters of the watch is fake and its worth scrap gold if it is gold, sorry to break such bad news.

He nailed it.

[bayerische]

The bracelet has the map of Italy on it, and the wording "Italy". Hello.

[andyboy39]

Originally Posted by dalip

that just earned you another set of infractions. You clearly have a set of issues that seem to impede your ability to communicate in an appropriate way.

These points added to your others will have earned you 3 months of vacation time away from trf.

Maybe use the time to sort yourself out.

+1

[Robatmass]

Originally Posted by bayerische

The bracelet has the map of Italy on it, and the wording "Italy". Hello.

Maybe it was made during World War II