How to Spot Fake Day Date White Gold President.

[Ian Limm]

Hi Guys,As some of you know, I purchased a White Gold DD in Jan so naturally I was interested to learn how to spot the DD fakes!

I am still learning and will continue to add on should I learn anything new.

Quickly , this is what I learnt so far:-

(Sleeve test).
Happend when you dont have the chance to inspect the watch ,just observing the wearer's watch.Very difficult most experts will tell you but i observed one thing.
There is a slight shad of yellow gold even on a white gold watch.(Those color blind, you can't use this method sorry).
The fakes dont have this colour,no matter how much they polish and shine the material.
Using this method, I am able to spot the fakes (and authentic) on strangers in a matter of seconds!

(Hand Inspection)
If you have the chance to inspect the watch, very easy to authenticate, even on high end fakes,just do the following:-

1)shake the watch and put the watch close to your ears, a real day date is dead silent no matter how hard you shake it,the fakes you can hear the auto wind (sound like a train or engine inside).

2)look at the second hand,even the "swiss made" movement is not as "smooth" as the real deal, the fake second hand will sweep but not smoothly.

3)Again put the watch to your ears, Listen to the second hand, the real second hand will not produce any sound, but on the fake you can actually hear "Tick Tick Tick..."

4)The "18K" and other Rolex Markings are engraved (some use what appears to me to be laser engraving).

5)Weight, this weight test is harder for those who dont own one, 18K (75% gold) is very heavy compared to steel or other materials.

6)The President bracelet,check the links (the screw test don't work cos the high end use the same method). If the links dont fold nicely on each and every link, something is wrong because on the real Rolex, the quality of the links and joints is 100% perfect!

7)The bracelet lugs joints to the face of the watch, again if you spot any imperfactions, it becomes a suspect.The real deal joins perfectly AND TIghtly with no gaps!

8)Pull out the hour/ minute hand button and start turning, the change on the DAY DATE MUST Be Perfect at 12 midnight and DAY DATE must change in a spilt of a second! I mean right on time!

All the above steps will help a lot even in the authentication process even if you dont have the chance to open up back of the watch.

That's all for now and I welcome any comments or clarifications!

Hope some of you found this useful Good Night!

[kt2u]

Great post! Does this apply to the newest model or old models as well?

[danielskl]

Does you test apply to sports model as well? I remember when putting my sub close to my ear I can hear soft ticking sound and its not dead silent. Well mine defiantely not fake as I bought from THG unless they.....

Maybe some pro can advice!!

[ahjames]

Does you test apply to sports model as well? I remember when putting my sub close to my ear I can hear soft ticking sound and its not dead silent. Well mine defiantely not fake as I bought from THG unless they.....

Maybe some pro can advice!!

erm.. all my rolexes got the soft ticking sound le but my 1973 daydate sound louder

[Ian Limm]

kt2U- I used my 99 model for comparision so I imagine the letter models will be the same if not better.

danielskl- my observation and studies apply only to Day Date that is why I started a thread on its own to avoid confusion.

to study the issue of real Vs fake, I prefer to tackly each model on it own to make it easier for members, just my opinion.

[Darkangel]

(Sleeve test).
Happend when you dont have the chance to inspect the watch ,just observing the wearer's watch.Very difficult most experts will tell you but i observed one thing.
There is a slight shad of yellow gold even on a white gold watch.(Those color blind, you can't use this method sorry).
The fakes dont have this colour,no matter how much they polish and shine the material.
Using this method, I am able to spot the fakes (and authentic) on strangers in a matter of seconds!

(Hand Inspection)
If you have the chance to inspect the watch, very easy to authenticate, even on high end fakes,just do the following:-

1)shake the watch and put the watch close to your ears, a real day date is dead silent no matter how hard you shake it,the fakes you can hear the auto wind (sound like a train or engine inside).

2)look at the second hand,even the "swiss made" movement is not as "smooth" as the real deal, the fake second hand will sweep but not smoothly.

3)Again put the watch to your ears, Listen to the second hand, the real second hand will not produce any sound, but on the fake you can actually hear "Tick Tick Tick..."

4)The "18K" and other Rolex Markings are engraved (some use what appears to me to be laser engraving).

5)Weight, this weight test is harder for those who dont own one, 18K (75% gold) is very heavy compared to steel or other materials.

6)The President bracelet,check the links (the screw test don't work cos the high end use the same method). If the links dont fold nicely on each and every link, something is wrong because on the real Rolex, the quality of the links and joints is 100% perfect!

7)The bracelet lugs joints to the face of the watch, again if you spot any imperfactions, it becomes a suspect.The real deal joins perfectly AND TIghtly with no gaps!

8)Pull out the hour/ minute hand button and start turning, the change on the DAY DATE MUST Be Perfect at 12 midnight and DAY DATE must change in a spilt of a second! I mean right on time!

You have been learning well. All those that I highlighted in bold I use them too Anyway especially on the train engine part haha

But hor number 8 I dun agree...my datejust dun change exactly at 12 leh..it's normal that some watches dun change at 12

[feilong108]

quickset or non quickset???

[Ian Limm]

Hi DA, Thank you I have been a good disciple of this forum
On point 8, sorry my mistake.
The DAY and Date must change at the same split second time.
You are correct ,at midnight slight delay about 2 to 4 mins before the date actually changes.

ahjames,yep all rolex have very soft and very fast chick chick chick sound, fakes have clear "1 tick per second sound".

[ahjames]

Tks Ian

[Ian Limm]

I'm back with more Spotter's tips :-

(Weight Test)

1)Day Dates are made of solid 18K gold, so they weigh much more than a stainless steel rolex.You will feel the solid heavy weight that is UNDENIABLE in day dates.

2)Even the best Fakes are "triple-wrapped" with gold plating but in general is still too light to be actually made of solid gold or platinum.

Remember Solid gold is heavy and platinum is even heavier!

The DAY DATE does not come in stainless steel.

[Darkangel]

I'm back with more Spotter's tips :-

(Weight Test)

1)Day Dates are made of solid 18K gold, so they weigh much more than a stainless steel rolex.You will feel the solid heavy weight that is UNDENIABLE in day dates.

2)Even the best Fakes are "triple-wrapped" with gold plating but in general is still too light to be actually made of solid gold or platinum.

Remember Solid gold is heavy and platinum is even heavier!

The DAY DATE does not come in stainless steel.

Agreed with everything man You have been doing your homework well! A+!

When u do more research about your watch...you know more about it and will learn to love it more

[Ian Limm]

Thanks DA!

The fun in collecting watches to me is saving to eventually buy and own it.
and after you own it, the fun is learning more about the watch itself.

[Ian Limm]

my latest findings:-

I recently bought a 30X jeweler's loupe off ebay (Hong Kong seller) for just a few dollars.

Used the loop on may DD and I saw something new.

on the back of the watch case are 3 markings, 1 on top right is clearly visible the 18K mark.

on the top left is just a little little stamp hole so I used the loupe to look inside and I see a woman's head with a "G" under her neck!

on the bottom right is another marking with 2 weighing scales and "750" in the middle,all that in that tiny hole!

DD owners try and see if you see what I am talking about.

[Darkangel]

Post pics man heheee

Hey do u mind posting more pics of your precious?

[Ian Limm]

Hi DA
sure! I will take some pics this weekend when my friend return my high reso camera. only with that can I take close up pics of what I am referring to.