The Swiss Customs Service estimates between 30 to 40 million counterfeit and replica watches are put into circulation annually. These counterfeit watches cause considerable damage to the watch industry, both financially due to potential lost sales and also brand degradation as a result of the market being flooded with counterfeit copies of the original watches.

The annual trade show of the watch industry known as BaselWorld attracts many attendees from China who spend their time photographing the latest models being displayed by the top luxury watch-making brands. The photos of these new and prototype watches then find their way back to manufacturers in China where they are quickly copied and made into replica watches. The counterfeit timepieces are then rushed to market, often in advance of the authentic watch.

It is estimated by Swiss Customs that 40% of replica watches originate in China, although counterfeits are also manufactured elsewhere, including the United States. In October of 2006 police in Florida arrested a woman who had been operating a counterfeit watch business that earned about $8 million in sales. It is estimated that counterfeit watch sales worldwide cost Swiss watch manufacturers more than $600 million per year in lost sales. Once these counterfeit watches have been confiscated, it is the obligation of the Swiss Customs Service to destroy them. Surprisingly, in Switzerland individuals are allowed to keep a maximum of one counterfeit watch per person, provided they personally import it into the country. In addition, the watch being imported must not include any forged precious-metal hallmarks.

Two Types of Counterfeit Watches

Counterfeit watches are divided into two groups:
• The first group is comprised of low-priced imitations of watches. A cheap counterfeit watch features the name of a prestigious brand, but lacks its design and functions.
• The second group involves counterfeit watches designed to resemble the original authentic watch (a trade-dress violation). Some high-priced counterfeit watches are produced from better quality materials and have golden parts and leather straps.

Replica Rolex Watches

One of the more popular counterfeited watch models are the Rolex replica watches - which are illegally manufactured replicas of authentic Rolex watches. As with many of the expensive brand-name luxury watches on the market, Rolex watches can frequently be found being counterfeited and sold illegally on the internet and the street. The counterfeit Rolex watches are mostly produced in countries that include Taiwan, Korea, India and China (statistics from 2004 show that 54% of counterfeits seized originated in China) and can be found retailing for as little as $5 and as high as $1,000 or more for high-end replicas fabricated in gold, although the majority of counterfeit Rolexes use gold electroplating. The trade in replica Rolex watches has become sophisticated, complete with full-color glossy brochures and catalogues of counterfeited watches produced in China and offered for sale to retail vendors.

Characteristics of a Counterfeit Watch

You often hear that you can tell a counterfeit watch from an authentic one by the smooth movement of the second hand. This is a myth, due to the fact that many counterfeit watches use inexpensive quartz crystal engines which produce the telltale start/stop movement visible once per second of the sweep. If you observe closely you will see that even an authentic Rolex movement does not have a perfectly smooth second-hand sweep, but actually eight movements per second. The only watch mechanisms that had a second-hand with a true, uninterrupted sweep were the Seiko Spring-Drive and the Bulova tuning-fork movement. That being said, some of the better counterfeit watches on the market have automatic movements, and Rolex has produced a few models with quartz movements which produces the distinct quartz movement ticks.

Another trait of a replica Rolex watches is if it has a transparent case back allowing the movement to be seen. Rolex never made such a watch, an exception being some models from the 1930s which are extremely rare and the new Cellini Price models. You will never see an authentic Rolex watch with an engraved company logo, design or Rolex name on the outside of the caseback. Exceptions to this are a few of the lady’s models which have engraving on the case backs, and the Sea-Dweller models which say in black on the back, Rolex Oyster Original Gas Escape Valve, along with two Rolex logos. Other than that, authentic Rolex watches have a smooth caseback free of engravings.

Recently, Rolex has begun shipping recent models with a 3-dimensional hologram-encoded sticker on the caseback that has a floating Rolex crown logo to the top of the watch case’s reference number, which is printed in black. Most of the stickers on counterfeit Rolex watches are either solid green or a repetitious “Rolex” pattern, instead of a hologram. Some of the replica Rolex watches manufactured in Laos, Vietnam and China from 2006 on have a solid green hologram on the caseback. Prior to 2002 the reference number was printed in gold and the hologram did not have the Rolex crown logo. Today, counterfeiters are trying to more closely match the actual hologram sticker. Rolex stopped using the hologram around 2007 and new Rolex watches are not being shipped with it.

Another trait of an authentic Rolex watch is the almost invisible laser-etched crown logo on the inside of the crystal at the 6 o’clock position. A few replica Rolex watches have this etching, but it is often smaller and less distinct than on an authentic Rolex watch.

Also, an authentic Rolex has a date magnification 2.5 times normal size which should almost visibly fill the glass bubble. A few counterfeits have a larger font wheel to imitate the effect, although they don’t come close to appearance of the date on an authentic Rolex watch.

It is always best if you can examine a suspected counterfeit Rolex next to a genuine Rolex watch. Comparing them in this manner often reveals small color variations on the dial and watch-band, the laser printing on the face and any other variances that could identify an authentic Rolex from a counterfeit. In addition, all the edges on an authentic Rolex and its band are smooth, not sharp or coarse like many counterfeits.

Counterfeit watches are sometimes manufactured so well that even a specialist needs special equipment to verify its authenticity, according to Swiss Customs Service officials. An expensive price tag for a watch is also not a guarantee of quality, as even they can simply be very well done counterfeits. In addition, logos, seals and other proprietary markings can be forged to deceive the purchased into believing the watch is made with genuine solid gold, when in reality it’s a counterfeit that’s gold plated. Gold watches do not have to be made of solid gold to be authentic, as there are authentically manufactured watches that are gold plated. Counterfeits that are gold colored use much thinner gold plating, which will quickly begin to wear away.