It's just got a lot harder to spot a fake Rolex. Here's what to look for

Gone are the days when a fake watch was just something you picked up from a market on holiday for $10 and wore until one of the hands fell off - usually within a few weeks That's enough effort to fool a lot of people, but what's new - and somewhat jaw-dropping - is that inside the watch you will find a replica Rolex movement, an eerily good mimic of the real Calibre 4130 introduced in 2000 With a Rolex you'll always need the right tools at hand, as they never have sapphire casebacks, but unscrewing the metal back would usually have revealed a poor imitation; an ETA 7750 or Chinese Sea-Gull movement, perhaps with some cursory modifications to masquerade as a Rolex.

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There's a technical tell, too - the fake movement has an ordinary regulated balance wheel; Rolex uses a free-sprung balance - but this is serious watch-nerd stuff It's the level of hand-finishing and the dedication to quality that marks the real thing out from the fake Watchfinder was able to point these subtle details out by comparing the fake side-by-side with a real Daytona; but if one isn't to hand, spotting all the tell-tale signs just got a thousand times harder. Source