• - Rolex watches are worth thousands. Don’t buy them if the price isn’t realistic.
• - You should check out the feedback to see if they have sold fakes in the past.
• - Make Sure the photo is of the watch, and not taken from the internet.
• - Rolex watches come with a box, paperwork, tags, guarentee among other things. The box is good quality and is alone worth over £100.
• - There will be a code on the back of the watch. It is not a sticker! It is also holographic.
• - The hands on the watch move continuously, they do not tick or flicker.
• - When in doubt don’t buy. If you do buy then get it checked out. Find the seller’s address and phone number before paying. If possible try to collect the watch.

I hope this helps.

1. Rolex has never manufactured a watch with a see-through case. If you see a glass-back case on a watch, move on. You’re not looking at a Rolex.

2. Rolex have never fabricated a case or a band with even the smallest amount of rubber. You know it’s a fake if you feel rubber.

3. Skeleton dials display the moving parts of a timepiece. A skeleton dial may look trendy, but that doesn’t mean it’s a Rolex.

4. Oyster Perpetual Rolex watches always have a screwed-back case – never a pop-up.

5. Rolex Oysters are fabricated of stainless steel, gold or platinum. Chrome or chrome-plate is never used.

6. Only men’s full-size Rolex watches have day and date features.

7. The case of a Rolex President is platinum, 18-karat yellow or white gold – never stainless steel or two-tone stainless and gold.

8. Rolex watches are not gold-plated – ever. In the quest for how to identify a Rolex watch; look for either 14 or 18-karat gold.

9. Surprise, surprise. Rolex does make a watch with a quartz movement – the Perpetual Oyster, but be careful before you buy. Quartz movements comprise fewer than 10% of all Perpetual Oysters. The other 90% are conventional automatic Rolex movements.

10. Rolex is a Swiss company that in years past manufactured watches in various other countries including the U.S, Mexico, Italy and Venezuela – but never China. A “Chinese-made Rolex” is a ‘genuine fake’

Things That You Can Do To Protect Yourself when buying watches

1. Never buy a watch on the street.

2. Never buy used Rolex watches from an Internet dealer – unless he also operates a brick and mortar store situated in a secure, respectable location.

3. A customer always should always have the option to visit the proprietor’s store and personally inspect a watch. A used Rolex, like a new one, should always come with a warranty.

4. Never buy Rolex watches in the Far East or Turkey, even if the dealer has a storefront presence.

Curiously, people who buy fakes seem to have a contradicting thought process. They act like it is ‘only a name’ when they choose a counterfeit product with a premium brand name on it. Counterfeit buyers seem to be ignorant of or ignore the real merits that make the genuine item far more valuable than the fakes–they just consider one watch to be about the same as any other. 

But they obviously consider the luxury name brand important enough that they are willing to accept items of highly dubious quality and origin just to get that brand name on them. So we have yet to find how to interpret people’s willingness to pay for counterfeit versions of ‘the name’–especially when they have contempt for or ignorance of why the name is valuable–as anything other than wanting to cheaply impress themself and others.

Here’s what buying and wearing fake/counterfeit watches really says about the wearer:

Poor Grasp of Value – Replicas are made to sell by looking like something far more valuable than they are. They are seldom made for quality, carry no warranty, are made from cheap parts and are usually not worth repairing. They are basically overpriced disposable products, so are a poor value for your money.

Lack of Integrity – Those that choose cheap replicas to try to impress others that they have a real luxury watch are using falsehoods to represent themselves. So that makes people wonder what else about how you represent yourself is false.

Weak Ethics – Choosing replica watches shows the world that you are willing to support unethical and illegal businesses–not giving a care about the ethics and legalities involved if they get in the way of getting something that you want cheaply.

Gullible – Especially where someone unknowingly buys a fake, they show themselves to be easily deceived and someone that throws caution to the winds trying to get a super deal on an expensive item.

Isolated – Certainly there are no clubs for owners of fakes. No comraderie among fellow owners. No sharing of tips, tricks and performance issues. No assistance with operation, warranty or repair issues. Fake buyers are on their own with nobody to care, nobody to help and nobody to compliment or encourage them–except for the occasional person you might encounter that doesn’t know enough about watches to realize you are trying to ‘impress’ them with a cheap counterfeit.