Catching Counterfeit Rolex With Govberg's Josh Srolovitz & Tim Mosso

Описание: Shop pre-owned Rolex online: https://goo.gl/HmpxHj

Tim:
Today we are attacking a topic that is absolutely central to the question of buying pre-owned Rolex and I know it's at the forefront of many collector's minds. That's the topic of counterfeit Rolex.

Josh:
Within the role of counterfeits you have really two subcategories if you will, one being just a complete counterfeit, a watch that in no way is legitimate, has no legitimate parts, just a basic piece like that. The other side to counterfeits are what is known as Franken-watches. A Franken-watch is a Rolex comprised of all OEM parts, however they're parts that are from random models kind of amalgamated into one piece that it's not meant for.

Tim:
Exactly. Like Frankenstein's monster, all the parts are human, but the result is something other. The bottom line is you tend to see a distinction between where Franken watches pop up and where outright counterfeits appear. Franken watches tend to be the domain of the older watch, the vintage watch. A lot of times it's the assembly of parts that came from real Rolex watches that is the ultimate peril in the world of vintage. Take something like a Rolex GMT with a submariner bezel for instance. Or something like a Rolex Submariner Mercedes handset that's been stuck on a very early, for instance, stick hand Submariner. Something like a 6204.

Josh:
Sure, where all the parts in that case would be OEM Rolex, legitimate Rolex but they're not for the right watch and it just raises some red flags. Unfortunately that is something that is extraordinarily detrimental to the value of the watch.

Tim:
That's where expertise comes into play because this is where you just have to have seen the real thing correctly specified with all the parts that belong together, together. The other thing that's important to note is that factory service parts, for instance, this GMT Master right here, it's a 1675 reference. This watch has a Rolex super luminova service dial that's signed tridium. Why is that?

It's because Rolex can't fit a tridium dial to a watch going in for service today, but the understand that the aesthetic and maintaining correct Rolex specification is critical to the value of the watch. In many cases you will see service crystals, service bezels, service dials. They are Rolex, they are really and they are not Franken-watches but they are different than the original.

That's an area where the watch is legitimate. It's not a Franken-watch, but you still need to know from a collector standpoint.

Josh:
Absolutely, and when trying to identify whether or not a watch is just 100% authentic or counterfeit, you have to keep in mind that with high end Swiss watches, Rolex and all these other brands, I picture in mind a watchmaker laboring over a bench and he's working tirelessly and the product has to be perfect before it leaves his possession. If you're holding a watch where it may feel okay weight wise and the dial looks pretty good but something's kind of tilted or fonts aren't the right sizes or it doesn't line up, it's probably not legitimate.

Tim:
Yes, and one of the keys when you're looking at an older watch is, and this is part of the whole Franken-watch phenomenon, a refinished dial. A lot of times you'll find that the seriefs of text, the quality of text, the quality of indicies in relation to the edge of the bezel, in relation to the edge of the hash marks, they just don't line up correctly. That's one of the times when you need someone to guide you who has seen the real thing and knows the difference.

Josh:
To begin here, to take a look at some examples, we do have a vintage Submariner, one of the most vintage Submariners, the 5508. This is a late 1950s example. If you look closely at the dial you'll see that the petina on the markers at each hour are faded to this beautiful brownish-yellow color. The hands match. Everything's consistent. There's no stark white paint anywhere or blurry letters or numbers. Everything is fine, perfect as it should be. Just a little sense of detail just speaks volumes and is the most important part of the watch.

Tim:
Yeah, it's absolutely critical that if you're buying a watch like this you're buying it from a seller that knows that a 5508 bezel should be fully calibrated up to 15 minutes. If someone, an enterprising eBayer for instance found a 5508 and pieces of an older 6536 and put them together, if you see the 5508 that doesn't have the hash marks between zero and 15, you know that someone build up a collection of parts.

That's where, again, expertise and experience, having seen it really pays dividends.

Josh:
Absolutely, and as an authorized dealer for the brand we have access to Rolex directly so things can be verified, things can be checked. Original parts if needed can be sourced. It's really just the right way to do it. With that you get an invaluable piece of mind.