How to Identify a Fake Watch

Steps

1. Make yourself familiar with the collections of the watch brand, the timepiece of which you wish to buy.
2. Always inspect thoroughly the watch you wish to buy. Pay attention to the inscriptions and engravings on the face and on the case back of the watch. The original watch will never have a smeared inscription on the face or an unclear engraving.
3. Pay attention to the functions of the watch, i.e. how the watch itself works and how the chronograph works. Most Rolex watches have a sweep second hand and many fakes will have a tick style hand; however, some real Rolex watches have a tick style hand, so know your model. Some replica watches, which have a magnifying glass, may have a weak level of magnifying in comparison to the genuine timepiece.
4. Pay attention to the movement of the watch. If you intent to buy a mechanical timepiece, you should try to take a look under the case back. Fake watches seldom have a mechanical movement.

Tips

• Try to have the most recent catalogue always at hand, so you can compare the items in the store and the ones featured in the catalogue.
• Try to consult a person who deals with watches everyday or who is at least a watch enthusiast or professional collector.

Warnings

• The catalogues may not always contain all the watch models the company provides. There are cases when a specific watch is not included in the catalogue.
• Beware that there are mechanical watches, which have a sweeping seconds hand.
• Be careful not to misidentify an original watch. The watchmakers have produced thousands of watches and collections. There are older models which might be identified as being replicas.
• There were cases when even the watch brand has issued watches initially having a flaw, so don't haste the decision. The manufacturer will always call the watches back, when the flaw will be discovered.