The cyclops, the crown etched in the crystal, the engraving on the rehaut and the movement of the seconds hand: four things you can check yourself. They catch cheap fakes. They do not catch good ones, and that is exactly why you should read this article to the end first.
Let me start with what you will not read anywhere else: the four checks in this article give you no certainty. They catch cheap fakes, and that is useful, because the great majority of what turns up on listing sites is cheap fakes. But the good fakes of recent years pass all four of these points.
That does not mean you should skip them. It means you should know what a passed check does and does not tell you: you have ruled out the bottom of the market, not the top. Anyone who confuses the two buys with a false sense of safety, and that is more dangerous than not checking at all.
1. The cyclops over the date
The bubble in the crystal above the date window magnifies the date two and a half times. That is a specific strength and it is visible without your having to measure anything: on a genuine example the numeral all but fills the window and its edges are crisp.
On cheap fakes the magnification sits around one and a half times. The date then looks flat and too small and space is left around the numeral. Put two photos side by side and it shows at once.
Note: not every Rolex has a cyclops. The Submariner without date, the Explorer, the Daytona and the Milgauss have none. On those models a flat crystal is therefore no indication.
2. The tiny crown in the crystal at six o'clock
On Rolexes from about 2002 onwards there is, at the bottom of the sapphire crystal at the six o'clock position, a minuscule crown burned in with a laser. It consists of dots at different depths in the crystal, so light falls into it differently and it appears to float.
Expect not to see it with the naked eye. You need a ten times loupe, or the zoom of a good phone camera with light falling across the crystal. Tilt the watch slowly until the pattern of dots flares up.
This is the check most cheap fakes fail: there is nothing there, or there is a flatly printed crown that looks too sharp and too dark. But it is also the check the better fakes now pass, so do not treat a crown that is present as a seal of approval.
3. The engraving on the rehaut
The rehaut is the narrow metal ring between the dial and the crystal. On watches from about 2005 onwards the serial number is laser-etched there, along with the word ROLEX repeated all the way round.
What you are looking at is not the number itself but how it is executed. The repeat should run neatly aligned relative to the crown at twelve o'clock, the characters should be equally deep throughout and the lines should be crisp. What you do not want to see: lettering that sits crooked, letters that vary in depth, or a repeat that jumps halfway round.
4. How the seconds hand moves
A Rolex movement beats eight times a second. So the seconds hand moves in eight small steps, which reads as a sweeping motion. What it does not do is jump once a second with a distinct tick.
If you see such a tick, there is a battery in it and it is not a mechanical Rolex. That rules out only the cheapest fakes, because fakes with an automatic movement inside have been made for years. So look at it, but do not lean on it.
What else you can do without tools
- Weight. Steel and gold are heavy. A watch that feels like a toy usually is one. This only works if you have once held a genuine one, so it is not a test in its own right.
- Sound. Hold the watch to your ear in a quiet room. A good movement makes an even, fine sound. Rattling, grinding or an audible zipping noise when the crown is turned are reasons to stop.
- The back. A solid steel caseback with no window is normal on almost every Rolex. If you see a transparent back through which you can view the movement, that is unusual on an ordinary Rolex and a reason to look more closely.
- The clasp and the links. Play, sharp edges, a clasp that does not catch with a clear click. On a fake the bracelet is often the part the least money went into.
Why this list stops where it stops
Once you could spot a fake Rolex by the things in this article. That now works against the bottom of the market and no longer against the top. The better fakes of recent years have an automatic movement, a lasered crown in the crystal, an aligned rehaut and a cyclops of the right strength.
What does get through them are things you will not find with a loupe: how the movement is built, whether the parts belong together and to the reference, whether the dial is original or was replaced at some point, and whether the whole agrees with the period this watch is supposed to date from. For that you need comparison material and experience with that particular model.
That is not a sales line but the reason this trade exists. And it is also why a second opinion is worth the trouble when in doubt: it costs an afternoon and it prevents a purchase you cannot undo.
What to do if you are unsure before buying
- Ask for the serial number. Anyone unwilling to give it has no good reason not to. With at least five of its characters you can check on the Dutch police-endorsed register at stopheling.nl whether the watch is recorded as stolen.
- Ask for photos of the rehaut and of the crystal at six o'clock. Not catalogue photos but shots of this very watch, taken with light from the side.
- Ask about the papers and about the provenance. They need not exist, but the answer to the question tells you something.
- Do not pay a stranger in advance. Arrange to meet somewhere you get the watch in your hands before the money is gone.
- If you are in doubt, do not buy. There is always another. At these sums a missed purchase is cheaper than a wrong one.
And if you have a watch of your own you are unsure about
That happens more often than you think, usually with an inheritance or a gift whose provenance can no longer be traced. We look at it without any commitment on your part, and we simply say what we see.
If a watch turns out not to be what it says it is, that is not welcome news, but it is better to know than to pass it on to somebody else. Send a few photos and you will hear.
