Could have caught me out...!

[entropydave]

I saw a very close, very close indeed Folex yesterday - a ladies datejust. I have to say - it was too close for comfort. It had the LEC - and very well executed too, a rehaut ring with the rolex done very accurately indeed, especially when I compared it with my one, a plausible serial number and on very close exam (I took a few macro shots) the arabic numerals were kosher, the lume looked good and so on - in fact, I am no expert, but it definitely had me totally fooled....
The fonts that the words were written in were good and it was only because the owner told me it was a fake that I knew it to be so.

Then I actually read the text on the dial... I don't think Rolex ever did a "Datedust" !

It took me ages to spot it!
I have some pics if anyone wants me to post them but it was a very close call and would have had me if I was in the market for a ladies Rolex.

So much effort had gone into this watch it really had!

An interesting experience I tell you!

[Ivy League]

Yeah it's actually fun to spot fake Rolexes........and then you laugh at the owners.

[jnoble]

Post the pictures

[springer]

Originally Posted by jnoble

Post the pictures

Bring 'em on.

[robb01]

Gotta see pics! I hate seeing Folex's, but I agree, some are getting pretty good

[Bisquitlips]

Post um!!!

[entropydave]

Originally Posted by jnoble

Post the pictures

Ok!!
I also just noticed the minutes being marked off - never seen a Rolex with that but then again I ain't no expert!

[toph]

not bad but the LEC is way too big. might fool you from 10 metres away but close up it looks what it is- a FAKE

[Wolfgang427]

Incredible that they go to the trouble of the rehaut and the laser crystal crown and then misspell Datejust. Goes to show you that no matter how careful the scammers are they always screw something up.

[entropydave]

Originally Posted by wolfgang427

Incredible that they go to the trouble of the rehaut and the laser crystal crown and then misspell Datejust. Goes to show you that no matter how careful the scammers are they always screw something up.

My thoughts exactly - I think it is done intentionally perhaps? And yep, the LEC was too big.

[argee1977]

The rehaut isn't that great either, Rolex have the double lettering style which is missing from that, it's just a plain single lettering etch.

[HockeyBrand]

Originally Posted by wolfgang427

Goes to show you that no matter how careful the scammers are they always screw something up.

It's done on purpose. Don't think for a moment that they aren't able to produce a short run production of the highest grade Rolexes 1:1 scale to fool every single expert here. They probably throw out these obvious and pathetic samples to throw the big watch companies "off their trail". Then they sneak in 300 units of some of their finest copies.

Try ripping this piece apart if you can.

[Baptistman]

I gotta say, from the photos, it screams fake, so it may look better in the flesh, where as the photo is magnifying the errors

But the SD above looks good

[gone-rolex-mad]

The SD is a fake!!!! We gotta be careful! DJ looks like poop

[SUPERDOC]

I thought that I might chime in before this whole thread rightfully gets scrapped...

The only place for fakes in this forum is in the watchout section to keep eachother from erroneously buying a fake...

the DateDust is crap...the LEC should not be that easily visible, the date mag is off and the '9' is open which is grossly inaccurate for a model with a larger case and engraved rehaut.

The SD isn't bad, but the pearl is cheap. and one photo means nothing...from three,four, ten feet away no one could tell a fake from the real thing, but if you were to inspect it for a purchase...everyone has to remember that no matter how accurate it looks phenotypically, they cannot replicate the Rolex Movement. Because of this the winding crown will always sit too low on the case...always a dead giveaway. Show a few more photos, and we'll rip it apart as requested...

No member should ever buy a fake unwittingly...or wittingky for that matter, but that's a different issue.

Infact, in the 'For sale' section, and on Ebay, there should be a set of mandatory photos required...one of which should be a side view of the winding crown...

Again...doesn't prevent the bait and switch, but it's a start...

[MACRAME QUEENS]

Originally Posted by argee1977

The rehaut isn't that great either, Rolex have the double lettering style which is missing from that, it's just a plain single lettering etch.

What is this double lettering style you speak of, old chap? Do you refer to the stencil font?

[GradyPhilpott]

Can you give some of us neophytes a clue as to how it is determined that the SD is fake?

Personally, I'd never buy from the grey market, much less knowingly purchase a counterfeit, but it'd be nice to know, anyway.

[entropydave]

I'm glad I did this thread actually- I've learn a lot from this! never handled a ladies DJ before - I might check sooe out at my AD

[Earl]

Moved this thread in it's entirety to WatchOut as we do not and will not promote fake or replica pictures on the Rolex forum proper.

[Letsgodiving]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

Can you give some of us neophytes a clue as to how it is determined that the SD is fake?

Here are some good pointers:

http://petemillar.com/rolex/rolex.htm

[Ed Rooney]

The Datejust is garbage. It's a flea market fake.

The SD is better, but probably would not stand up to close inspection.

[Andad]

If that SD is a fake it's a better fake than the one shown on petemillars site.

As you say, you need to see some of them in the flesh to pick the fakes. That SD looks pretty good from the pix shown. Having just louped my 'Z' SD I can see that the script is not as crisp and the ft = 1200 spacing is too close but hey some Rolex models have scripts that are different. Scary stuff.

[HockeyBrand]

You were all calling out a photo of a Gen Sea Dweller.












So just as I predicted. We aren't as good as we think we are. Pointing at fonts, lumed pearls, spacing, etc That's prehistoric ways of telling the differences between Fakes and Gens. (I include myself in that category, until I opened my eyes to really see what the Fake Industry is doing now). And I give up...honestly. Unless you can hold a piece and open it up, forgot about trying to call out the 'perfect' custom fakes.

[B]The photo of the SD is a GENUINE btw (currently being USED as a test subject to make a 1:1 copy!). I found the website.[/B]


Sorry to pull that stunt, But needed to prove a point to wake up the 'experts here' that think they can identify 'tells' from photos.

Pearl's can and are being replaced. Search EBAY and you will find thousands of Rolex Part listings. Bezels constuction from bottom to surface are being fitted with Gen parts as well. All that is really needed is a 1:1 case and that is ALL that these Scammers care about. They don't care what is written on the dial because those are easily replaced.

Hope you all leared a valuable lesson. As you (and me) aren't really the ones laughing at the bad fake wearers. It's those people with good fakes laughing at us and posting pics under our eyes. Yes, they are on all the Forums laughing at how bad we are at guessing if their Franken-Rollies are real or not. And you (and I) will never be able to call them out because we aren't able to open the caseback from a photo.

Following are some photos of how they buy Genuine samples and will spend months preparing an exact copy ready to take on anything to pull the wool over our eyes. That includes, correct movements, bracelets, dials, hands, bezels, etc.

[Z-Sub]

Originally Posted by Letsgodiving

Here are some good pointers:

http://petemillar.com/rolex/rolex.htm

Nice link. Thanks.

[Z-Sub]

That DJ is a lower quality replica.
The LEC is too easy to spot

[Andad]

Well Hockeybrand who called out your SD as a fake? I didn't see anyone call your SD pix a fake - I checked it against my SD and yours has different spacing on the script. I stated this was the only thing I could see that was different to mine but also said that some SD scripts were different. Are you having problems reading english??
Other pix from different angles would have given us more info.
The script 'ft=1200' on your SD dial still looks cramped to me.

I didn't even bother to comment on the DJ.

[vtime716]

what if they put an original rolex 3135 mov't on the replicas, do you think they will get away with it?

[Orchi]

Originally Posted by directioneng

I didn't see anyone call your SD pix a fake - I checked it against my SD and yours has different spacing on the script.

The script 'ft=1200' on your SD dial still looks cramped to me.

Err buddy Eddie...Orchi especially likes the Dial on your 16600 SD...it's special...!



Some time soon...folks would be looking out to get 16600 SD with the exact Dial layout as yours...which is harder to find...in Orchi's opinion.

It's very special...because of the almost upright "ft"...
Congrats from Orchi...!

Here's an A Series 16600 Sea-Dweller with the upright "ft" which is similar to your 16600 Sea-Dweller...
which belongs to the 1st generation 16600 Sea-Dweller with....
"SWISS" Luminova Dial...

[tudorman8276]

Originally Posted by vtime716

what if they put an original rolex 3135 mov't on the replicas, do you think they will get away with it?

..."they" already do it...

Stan.

[SUPERDOC]

Originally Posted by tudorman8276

..."they" already do it...

Stan.

...I don't know about that. If you have a rolex movement, then you have a rolex.

You can argue semantics about frankenwatch, or 100% factory, but those are other issues.

As far as the SD...proves nothing.

Like We said earlier, even poor quality fakes will pass from a distance.
Even an Invicta, seiko, Timex done in homage style will pass as a Rolex from 10 ft away....

With a single photo we wouldn't expect to find too many 'tells' on a good fake....


We aren't here to say how great fakes are...
We aren't here so that we can belittle others who chose to wear counterfeits...
We are here to protect eachother from being victims...

Bottom line is that the fake industry is getting more advanced, and you need to know exactly what you're looking at before you buy.

Stick to ADs or Face to face purchases....be prepared to open case backs, and know in advance what you should expect to see...
As good as these counterfeits may be getting, there is no reason for any of us to be scammed...