Paul Simon asked:


An unfortunate aspect of life is that for every success, there’s someone else waiting to capitalize on it; either by copying the business model, mimicking the brand name or logo, or even worse, making cheap fakes and selling them as the real thing. One of the most common “fake” scams involves the Rolex watch brand so this article discusses in brief some things to avoid when buying Rolex watches, especially in relation to making sure you don’t fall victim to the many counterfeit timepieces on the market.

I’m fairly confident most people are familiar with the myth pertaining to the infallible method of checking the second hand on Rolex watches to see if it sweeps or ticks. If it ticks you’re being tricked, if it sweeps then no need to weep. Alright so I made the rhyme up and I don’t imagine I’ll be picking up any literary awards this year (or ever for that matter), but still, it explains the common thinking on the subject. In truth there are several indicators that will expose Rolex watches as being a fake.

The aforementioned second-hand “sweeping or ticking” is not without it’s merits and is grounded in some truth as many of the cheaper counterfeits contain a crystal quartz mechanism which produces a start/stop tick per second. In contrast Rolex watches have a second hand with a much more fluid motion, although it is not entirely “tickless”, rather it consists of eight movements per second. To the naked eye this will seem as one smooth motion, but is in actual fact not perfectly smooth.

Other Rolex watch fakes have been presented with transparent casing on the back, something very rarely produced by Rolex themselves. Another aspect to look out for is whether there is an engraving of a logo on the back of the watch. Rolex have never engraved their name or logo on the case back, with one exception being the Sea-Dweller.

In order to try and reduce the instance of counterfeit Rolex watches being mistakenly purchased Rolex have recently been releasing watches with holographic stickers on the back. Depicted in the hologram image are the Rolex crown logo above the reference number of the piece in question. In general a fake Rolex watch with a hologram will be given away by the fact that the hologram itself is a solid green colour, or it will even be non-holographic and simply contain the word “Rolex” over and over again. Even more recently a full circle has been reached and Rolex themselves have stopped releasing new watches with holograms on the back in order to make the counterfeits out of date.

Finally genuine Rolex watches have a date magnification bubble which will fit the date perfectly, whereas fakes will not be able replicate this effect accurately. It would be a good idea, if you are thinking of investing in a Rolex watch to go to a reputable dealer such as ourselves at Second Time Round to look at a few different ones, which should then give you a basis of comparison if you should wish to buy privately. Good luck in your search!

Judo

Lisa Rey asked:


The Rolex SA company was founded in 1905 by Mr. Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law, Mr. Alfred Davis. Contrary to popular belief, Hans Wilsdorf was neither Swiss, nor a watchmaker. Wilsdorf & Davis was the original name of what later became the Rolex Watch Company. They originally imported Hermann Aegler’s Swiss movements to England and placed them in quality cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were then sold to jewelers, who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from the firm of Wilsdorf and Davis are usually marked “W&D” – inside the case back only.

Hans Wilsdorf registered the trademark name “Rolex” in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland during 1908. The word was made up, but its origin is obscure. One story, which was never confirmed by Wilsdorf, is that the word “Rolex” came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning exquisite watch industry.

The Wilsdorf & Davis company moved out of Great Britain in 1912. Wilsdorf wanted his watches to be affordable, but taxes and export duties on the case metals (silver and gold) were driving costs up. From that time to the present, Rolex has been headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, though the company owns facilities in other cities (Bienne, etc) and continents (North America, Asia, Australia, etc).

The company name Rolex was officially registered on 15 November 1915. It is thought this change was part of a drive to popularize wristwatches, which at the time were still considered a novelty largely for women (pocket watches were more common). Wilsdorf was said to desire his watch brand’s name to be easily pronounceable in any language. The company name was officially changed to the Rolex Watch Company during 1919. It was later changed to Montres Rolex, SA and finally Rolex, SA.

Rolex SA is a foundation initiated and originally funded by Hans Wilsdorf and the Aegler family. According to foundation documentation, the Rolex SA company can never be sold, nor traded on any stock market.

Snoopy Ties

Madison Preston asked:


A new fluted bezel with a larger crown replaced the coin edge bezel which was first introduced with the Datejust models. In the 1950’s, Model 6605 of the Datejust was released. In this model, over the date on the watch’s crystal, lies a cyclops or magnifying bubble. A Datejust model watch featuring a Turn-O-Graph gold Bezel, was released in 1956 by Rolex. This model was called the “Thunderbird”, model 1625.

After much success, the Datejust which was only offered in 18kt yellow gold, now also offered in platinum or white gold, and stainless steel. The two-tone Datejust models were available in 1962. Also, the Datejusts offered a variety of options for the watch-straps. These included a leather watch-strap, an Oyster bracelet, or a Jubliee bracelet.

A number of improvements led to a change in the original shape of the Datejust model during the 1970’s. A person wearing a Datejust model could easily adjust the date function without having to turn the crown over and over again – this was an impressive feature called the “Quick-set”. This feature was responsible in solving one of Rolex’s major problems and by the year 1983, all Rolex models had this feature. In addition, Rolex eliminated the old domed plastic crystal and the new Datejust had sapphire crystal. This new feature drastically improved the aesthetics and longevity of the watch as it provided improved waterproof security and was scratch resistant as well. Furthermore, Rolex eliminated the old pie-pan dial and changed the dial and case to the sapphire crystal that had a smaller and slimmer profile.

Rolex also modified the earlier four-digit case reference number to a five digit number. Also during this time, the Oyster date, which was similar to the Datejust, was introduced. The only distinguishing feature was that it was 2mm smaller. The “midsize” version of the Datejust was available and was approximately 80% of the original size.

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