Replica watches are undergoing a boom in the market, and the name of Rolex surely is also on the list of watch brands whose products are frequently replicated. This seems quite natural, since all of those famous watch manufacturers price their products at a very high level, making them really hard for the average consumers to get. Lots of online shops are now selling replica Rolex watches, and also people can get them on the street. Replica watches usually are manufactured in areas like Taiwan, Korea, India and China. But it seems that China now produce more, because according to statistics of 2004, 54% of replica watches come from China. But if you still think that replicas are all cheap, it’s time for you to know something about the true range of their prices. A roughly made replica watch can cost only $5, while a high-end replica crafted in expensive metal like gold will cost $1,000 or even more. Of course, most of the Rolex replicas employ gold electroplating. And the trade now has been much improved. They’ve got full-color glossy brochures and catalogues displaying products.
Currently replica Rolex watches come with a transparent case back allowing people to see parts of the working movements. Yet Rolex did not do that, except for those uncommon models they made in the 1930s and the new Cellini Cost designs. And an original Rolex timepiece never comes with an engraved business logo, style or Rolex title on the case back. Still, exceptions can be found. For example, designs of some lady’s watch have engraving around the case back, and on the back of the Sea-Dweller models you can see “Rolex Oyster Authentic Gasoline Escape Valve” in black, as well as two Rolex logos. Other than these mentioned above, authentic Rolex watches get no engravings on their backs.
Recently, you can find a 3-dimensional hologram-encoded sticker around the case back on the current designs by Rolex, with a floating Rolex crown logo towards the leading and the black reference quantity. Rather than employing a hologram, most Rolex replicas use stickers in strong green or simply a repetitious “Rolex” pattern. Since 2006, Laos, Vietnam and China made some replica models with strong green hologram covering the case back. Yet, models made before the year 2002 came with reference quantity printed in gold, and no Rolex crown logo on the hologram. You can see now the manufacturers of replica watches are putting more efforts in imitating the authentic hologram sticker. No hologram can be found on new Rolex watches after 2007.
Another thing that an authentic Rolex watch has got will be a laser-etched crown logo at the six o’clock place, nearly invisible. Some replica Rolex models have also got this etching, although it looks smaller and less unique. Also, all authentic timepieces by Rolex feature a date magnifying glass bubble at 3 o’clock. To imitate the impact, some replica versions get a bigger font wheel, though they don’t arrive near to look with the date on an original.