Examples of fake and real submariners

Fake Back

Real Back

Fake Movement ------Rolex is never gold, this is an ETA movement

Real Movement ------Notice the two red wheels

The Submariner is the most popular Rolex replica watch on the internet. It is often difficult these days to spot as a fake. The best quality fakes are also called Swiss Grade 1's and are so good, a secondary kind of scam marker has developed on eBay and other auction web sites. Swiss Grade 1 Rolex reproductions are auctioned off every week as genuine watches to those buyers who cannot believe their good fortune at running into a once in a life time super deal on a genuine Rolex watch. What those buyers find out the hard way is that the "deal of a life time" comes around every week on eBay! Here is what you need to know to help spot a fake Rolex Submariner; but sometimes it's very difficult! 1. The bezel on a genuine Submariner turns only in one direction: counter clockwise. Fakes often turn in both directions or in other words, they are bi-directional. All high quality fake Swiss Grade 1's are correct in this feature. So even if the bezel turns in the correct direction, this doesn't mean it's a genuine Submariner. 2. Bezel clicks. It takes 120 'clicks' to make a full circle on a genuine Submariner. Fakes often fail to copy this feature correctly. Quick test: count the clicks for a quarter of a turn. You should count 30 clicks. 30 x 4 == 120 just like a real one. So even if the bezel makes a 120 clicks, this doesn't mean it's a real Submariner. 3. Movement inside. All Swiss Grade 1 Rolex replicas have an ETA movement inside. These are 25 jewels but many replica web scams tell you they are 27 jewels. They are not because ETA does not make a 27 jewel mechanical movement. The ETA does a beautiful job at replicating the second hand sweep of the genuine Rolex movement. It used to be this was a big clue as to whether or not a Rolex was real or not. You can no longer count on it. So even if the second hand "sweeps smoothly" to the naked eye, it is really quickly moving 8 times per second, just like on a real Rolex. Cheaper movements (non ETA) in the Submariner replicas are often still difficult to determine what kind of movement is inside based on watching the second hand sweep.

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