Rolex "tells"

[Vinny]

Well I thought this might be a good topic . I have noticed that since there are a lot of real good reps , the tells are getting less. The #1 tell I can indentify would be the noise of the rotor inside when you shake it.

Anyone seen a "quiet" clone?

 

[alvinado]

seen or heard? You can reduce the noise of the rotors by apply watch oil.

The crown guards in all rolex old style sports models are still an issue in my opinion

 

[avenger007]

I recently had a chance to compare a friends gen Submariner and my Fakeymariner side by side. The biggest tell to me is the shape of the CG's. The funny thing is my friend is holding both and saying, "I can't tell a difference. WOW. I can't tell a difference." Most "normal" people don't notice the stuff we do.

 

[hk45ca]

the only rolex my wife and i have that you can hear the rotor is my v series daytona. the rest are inaudible.

 

[levelmanroger]

I recently had a chance to compare a friends gen Submariner and my Fakeymariner side by side. The biggest tell to me is the shape of the CG's. The funny thing is my friend is holding both and saying, "I can't tell a difference. WOW. I can't tell a difference." Most "normal" people don't notice the stuff we do.

Beat rate, date mag, and date font should have been very obvious next to a gen. But on higher level reps, the cgs are the only tell, and they're not off by much.
My WM9 Sub is dead-on compared side-by-side with a gen.

 

[cazIRL]

Dont worry about rotor noise, who's gonna be listening out for it ??

Most "normal" people don't notice the stuff we do.

+1 Before I joined the forum you could have put a BK Sub beside a gen an I wouldn't have noticed the difference, but since joining here and beginning to nit pick every tiny detail on a watch, only then do flaws become apparent.
As far as gen only owners go, I would say 95% of them would not be able to tell a high quality rep from a gen, and indeed on the rolex forums somebody posted a V3 DSSD pic claiming it was gen. After about 15 "congrats on your new purchase" posts from the gen crowd, the watch was eventually identified as a rep.

 

[alvinado]

+1 Before I joined the forum you could have put a BK Sub beside a gen an I wouldn't have noticed the difference, but since joining here and beginning to nit pick every tiny detail on a watch, only then do flaws become apparent.
As far as gen only owners go, I would say 95% of them would not be able to tell a high quality rep from a gen, and indeed on the rolex forums somebody posted a V3 DSSD pic claiming it was gen. After about 15 "congrats on your new purchase" posts from the gen crowd, the watch was eventually identified as a rep.

that is what happened to all of use... hahaha

 

[avenger007]

Beat rate, date mag, and date font should have been very obvious next to a gen. But on higher level reps, the cgs are the only tell, and they're not off by much.
My WM9 Sub is dead-on compared side-by-side with a gen.

Very true, Roger, but it also shows how we scrutinize and analyze a piece. My friend looked at both trying to tell the differences, and only came up with the second hand looks a little slower and the CG's that I had to point out. I'm sure he could have found most if not all of the tells had he taken long enough, but a couple minutes of comparing left him VERY impressed with the quality of the rep.

I guess part of me was expecting him to totally de-construct my Sub since he owned the real thing with "that's off, those are wrong, this is a dead giveaway, etc." Didn't happen. And when I told him how much I paid for it, all he could say was "You've got to be kidding me."

 

[gioarmani7428]

There are plenty of people wearing gens that can't even pull them off. The biggest tell is actually how you present yourself--it's not what you wear, it's how you wear it.

 

[sconehead]

The biggest tell, whilst not visual, is that in modern Rolex's, the crown turns in different directions to advance/retard time than in our Asian and ETA powered reps, the date as well if I'm not mistaken...

 

[polaris]

unless you have the watch in your hand it would be pretty hard to 'tell' any half decent rep.

That said one thing that has not been copied correctly is the white gold surrounds on the lumed hour markers on maxi dials. Too thick on reps. If the model has a pearl, the reps tend to get it more wrong than right most of the time.

Like the others have said, the small detail that we(I) agonise over are lost to regular folk.

 

[I am Sam]

Beside the asthetic difference the biggest tell is your affordability limit. If you earn $50K and have tons of financial responsibilities then it does not match your life style to wear $500K worth Patek all day long. There are many folks around who may not know the difference between rep or gen but what they can tell is the value of the watch. My nephew once started wearing this limited edition watch and I told him without looking at his wrist that he is wearing fake. He was jaw dropped and told me that you are the only one who said this... How asked me so how can you tell? And I said to him I evaluated you, your earnings and the value of the watch and simply nothing adds up... LOL

 

[nbarker]

i've found most ppl can't tell a 100 rep from a gen..its sad

 

[Meta4]

So is a rush to grab 50 posts

 

[I am Sam]

i've found most ppl can't tell a 100 rep from a gen..its sad

It is all about the interest.

 

[polaris]

Beside the asthetic difference the biggest tell is your affordability limit....

It is harder to fool those whom know you better, but for the stranger on the street they'd have nfi. In fact they wouldn't know you had an expensive looking watch unless it was a rollie. PP AP Pam... they have no idea of those brands. 99% peeps equate shininess to expensiveness.

"People will assume your gen is a fake before they presume your fake is a gen...if they care at all" -Fakemaster

 

[I am Sam]

On average 90% of your time (unless you are homeless or a marketing guy) spent among those who are little to very well aware of your financial status.

As the famous saying goes "you can fool one, all the time. You can fool all... one time. But you cannot fool everyone all the time" unless you are Dubiya.

There will always to be atleast two people who are aware of the fact that there is a rep on a wrist. The one who sold it and the one who bought it - I am Sam

 

[BigChief]

On average 90% of your time (unless you are homeless or a marketing guy) spent among those who are little to very well aware of your financial status.

As the famous saying goes "you can fool one, all the time. You can fool all... one time. But you cannot fool everyone all the time" unless you are Dubiya.

There will always to be atleast two people who are aware of the fact that there is a rep on a wrist. The one who sold it and the one who bought it - I am Sam

Very well said. I have always believed that 99% of the people I work with know very little to nothing about watches.....much less that I am wearing a rep. The only person who knows is myself, the person who sold it to me, and my co-worker who also shares a passion for watches.

 

[hk45ca]

Beside the asthetic difference the biggest tell is your affordability limit. If you earn $50K and have tons of financial responsibilities then it does not match your life style to wear $500K worth Patek all day long. There are many folks around who may not know the difference between rep or gen but what they can tell is the value of the watch. My nephew once started wearing this limited edition watch and I told him without looking at his wrist that he is wearing fake. He was jaw dropped and told me that you are the only one who said this... How asked me so how can you tell? And I said to him I evaluated you, your earnings and the value of the watch and simply nothing adds up... LOL

your kidding right? that might work with your nephew but i wouldn't suggest doing it out in public with strangers, you simply don't know what somebody's affordability limit is by looking. i guess i need to sell my daytona, gmt2c and my wife's platinum yacht master. roflmao :rofl:

http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/...-watch-29352p5?t=29352&page=5&highlight=truck

 

[fakemaster]

The biggest tell, whilst not visual, is that in modern Rolex's, the crown turns in different directions to advance/retard time than in our Asian and ETA powered reps, the date as well if I'm not mistaken...

OMG I just spit coffee all over my keyboard! :biglaugh: