Professional Soldiers ® - ROLEX with SF Crest FOR SALE

I am posting this because so many guys in SF buy Rolex watches.

Please, do not think that I'm saying that the watch being offered here is a fake. In fact, the crown guards look legit. But, here is some information I put together from experience in how to spot a fake:

1) Size of Crown Guards - The "crown" is the winder which happens to have the Rolex crown on it. The crown guards are the two little horns on either side. If you notice, the Rolex Explorer does not have crown guards (the Rolex Explorer II, however, does have them). The size of the crown guards on fake Submariners is usually huge as compared to the crown. Also, they look a lot less pointy than the real deal.

2) Tube and Crown - If you unscrew the crown, you will reveal the tube that has a small rubber seal on it. This is the patented "triple lock" crown design that made the Submariner famous. Fakes have the rubber seal as well (good fakes do). However, if you were to look closely at the threads of the tube, they are usually very rough and you might even see small metal shavings in there. Genuine tubes are very clean in design. This is the difference between a precision, high-grade factory and QC process and a "mom-and-pop" shop in a building basement in China.

3) Crown and Watch Case - If you take your watch and put it sideways so that you are looking at the flat side of the crown, you will see the distinctive crown design with the three dots underneath (three dots indicate "triple lock"; many other Rolex models do not have this). The crown should be centered on the case so that it is not sitting closer to the case back. This is because most Submariner fakes use the ETA 2836-2 movement (the engine of the watch) where the design requires that the tube and crown sit lower towards the case back. The in-house designed Rolex Caliber 3135 is not build this way and thus, a genuine Rolex Submariner's crown (and tube) are centered on the case.

4) Weight - The genuine Rolex is relatively light. The actual weight escapes me right now. But, by virtue of the construction materials, the fakes usually have more heft to them.

5) Reference Number vs. Serial Number - The fact that a "Submariner" has engraved Reference and Serial Numbers between the lugs (the lugs are the two large horns on either side of the case if you take off the bracelet) means nothing to determine a genuine. This is because anyone can engrave anything on there with the right machine (and font). However, the correct Ref. Number for the Submariner (with date), for example, is 16610. You will also find this on the green holographic Rolex sticker on the case back. The serial number will be found on the opposite side. By the way, the case reference number will be on the 12 O'clock side of the case, between the lugs. The serial number depends on when that particular watch was manufactured. If you can get the serial number from a seller (individual owner and not an authorized Rolex dealer) - even from a "reputable seller" from EBay - contact Montres Rolex and verify the status of your prospective buy. Many stolen genuine Rolex and fake Rolex have been spotted this way.

6) Holographic stickers - This is the green holographic sticker on the case back. First of all, there is absolutely no real reason to keep this thing on the back of your Rolex watch. While the uninitiated seem to place a value on this, you can go on EBay and buy tons of these holographic stickers for a couple of dollars. The genuine Rolex will have this holographic sticker along with a thin red line along the side, over the sticker and touching the metal itself beyond the sticker. This is there just to tell the customer buying a brand new Rolex that the watch movement has not been tampered with since the date of manufacture. Obviously, if the Rolex was serviced in the past this "seal" would be broken. Although, the sticker can still be present, the thin red line would not line up along the case back anymore. But, hold the phone; EBay now sells clear stickers with the "thin red line" along the side to place on top of the holographic sticker. I have removed all green stickers from my Rolex watches. They serve no purpose after you have purchased them.

7) Case back engravings - No genuine Rolex Submariners have any engravings on the back. There is no "Rolex", or "Submariner" or anything back there. I would recommend, however, that if you do plan on keeping your Rolex (and not re-selling it) to take it to a shop and have the case back engraved with something unique to you. This greatly diminishes the value of the watch to a thief and makes it easier to identify to the authorities should it be stolen.

8) Movement and Rotor - If you have the opportunity to have the seller show you a photo of the movement, do so and show this to an authorized dealer or an authorized Rolex repair shop technician. This is the only sure way to identify your prospective buy beyond all doubt. One way to do this, as a seller, is to take the watch you are selling to an authorized Rolex repair technician and have them open the case back an snap the photo (they are set up to do this anyway). As a buyer, contact said repair shop and verify this with them, along with the serial number. By the way, genuine Rolex Submariner rotors (the pendulum-like part that winds the watch inside the movement) do not have any engravings on them. The only engravings are on the movement itself, under the rotor. Also, if you see the engravings "ETA" anywhere on the watch movement, it is a fake (with a pretty good non-Rolex movement). Lastly, the genuine Rolex Submariner movement has two Teflon-coated gears that are visible when the rotor is turned in either direction. These gears have a distinctive red clay color.

9) Etched Crown on Crystal - The Rolex Company uses Sapphire for its crystal. This is highly scratch resistant unless scored by a diamond (like if you are horsing around with your significant other and she is wearing a diamond ring) or other such substance. On the later models, Rolex has put a small laser etched Rolex crown image at the six o'clock position on the crystal. This laser etching should require a jeweler's loupe to see. If you can see it easily with the naked eye, it's most likely a fake (or you got some great vision).

10) Papers, box and warranty - Beware of sellers claiming that the Rolex they are selling is missing all papers because, "they were burned in a fire", "lost during a move", or the watch was bought that way from a collector. These are all likely stories for selling fake or stolen Rolex watches. Usually, a person that buys a $5,000 USD watch will take great care to keep this stuff. The box is not so pivotal in that regard, however. But, the box being missing has been known to decrease the resale value from $200 USD to $500 USD.

I post this because, in some cases, even well-meaning sellers might be selling a fake Rolex because they don't know that what they originally bought was fake to begin

Edited to add this:

Sweeping Hand - Although a ticking hand on a Rolex is a sure sign of a fake (many years ago, Rolex did manufacture quartz powered movements for some models and there is a whole sub-culture of collectors out there for these rare pieces), ETA makes very similar sweeping movements that would easily pass the "sweeping hand" test. Just be aware.