Horological Meandering

Did not post this on Rolex because for me it’s more of a philosophical issue effecting high end brands in general. The interesting part are the comments on this Instagram post… ...  

Modern times technology and equipment have enabled nearly 1:1 copies.

I wonder how many Rolex owners that own the Pepsi would notice the difference if you handed them a fake and said “check out my new watch” 🤔

...and you already know the answer too. Guess the real question is, why no MB&F, or Rexhep Rexhepi, or others that are very difficult to copy. Perhaps we're seeing who 'just' manufacturers watches versus hand-creating intricate timepieces.

when buying our watches.

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if we want to be precise. And i believe the Rolex Daytona is claimed to be accurate. IMSA Statement on Finish of 2024 24-Hour Race at Daytona DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January, 29, 2024) -- Due to an officiating error in race control, IMSA inadvertently announ... 

Hasn't rolex had problems making the Pepsi bezel

Same exact thought crossed my mind… If they can do that Rolex has a serious problem on their hands.

If that’s true, I wonder what they price these units at because with the ceramic bezel cost of goods does become an issue…

And it's basically indentical to an original Rolex. I think "it was so hard to make" is marketing, not fact.

The 'value' of the Rolex brand is worth $$$

But I would be surprised if a fake could last years and sometimes even decades without service and continue to work reasonably well as you often find with a real Rolex. Simply put, the fakes are not built to last. And if you have an issue with one you mig... 

...they cost about $295 so repair is probably not top of mind to the purchaser... I also suspect that the purchaser is not thinking: "I never never actually own theses fake watches. I merely look after them for the next generation."

Who in the right mind would just go work there, knowing or unknowingly and be proud to say "Hey, I work in as a manager, engineer, operator etc in a replica watch place?" This has to be a huge syndicate operations, with deep connections.

It's not like this is a clandestine operation. They're advertising in the open about their manufacturing, replica models and availability. they even "clone" AP ! from the site: I dunno...kind of crazy. I'm sure this happens with sports cars too...as the s...  

Until you loupe them. Once you loupe them, the fake reveals itself VERY quickly. Rolex manufacturing is almost perfect. The fakes have many manufacturing flaws that are easy to spot. They are not 1:1, and I doubt they ever will be.

I had a banker who admitted to his fake Submariner and upon physical inspection it became obvious. Admittedly I was impressed by the likeness of the fake. A friend of mine was wearing a Patek 5711A. I said congratulations and asked to look at it. He took ... 

They can appear pretty good. For Rolex in particular, the super clones still haven't perfected the angles of the bezels. There is a lot of sloppy machining on the bezels.

But the fakes do not have free sprung balances right? Should be an easy tell even without loupes or side by side comparisons.

I read somewhere that at Rolex they have problems with the red color of the bezel insert, it seems that in some cases the color changes with time and this is something that they cannot tolerate. Only the red seems to show this kind of behaviour. OTOH, the...