How to tell if a rolex is fake?

My grandmother gave me my grandfathers Rolex he had bought awhile ago today. how do i tell if its fake? it says Rolex Oyster Perpetual DateJust. she said they paid $300 dollars but that was about 20 years ago. thanks|||Anyone who tells you to look for the jerky second hand knows nothing about watches. There are real Rolex that have the “jerky” second hand. They are called “Oysterquartz” models, and they were on the market back in the 70's. Fake Rolex with smooth moving second hands have been on the market since the mid 90’s. In other words the second hand can tell you nothing.



I am a Rolex owner. I also repair watches. There are some simple tests that never fail:



1. If the watch has a rotating bezel (the part around the outside of the face that had some numbers on it). Turn the bezel. If it sounds like a ratchet wrench, then the watch is a fake. On a real Rolex the bezel turns quietly and smoothly with almost no perceivable ratcheting sound. Most Date Just models do not have a bezel, so this may not help you much.

2. Hold the watch in your hand and wave it side to side like as though it was a wand. Listen carefully. Do you hear a scraping sound? Do you feel the weight inside it winding? All fakes make a scraping noise. Also on a Real Rolex you will never hear or feel the weight.

3. Wind the watch fully (unscrew the crown, and turn it about 40 turns clockwise). Set the time. Leave the watch on a desk, and do not move it. After about 24 hours a real Rolex will still have the correct time. A fake will have stopped by then.

4. All gold Rolex are 18K solid. If any of the gold is wearing off, the watch is fake. But keep in mind that a fake usually will not last long enough for the gold to wear. They are usually very cheap made.

5. Only Rolex sales demos have glass backs (you can see the inside of the watch). Fakes often have glass backs.

6. If you do get a chance to see inside the watch, a Rolex movement is stainless steel, with red writing. Some of the wheels are red as well. There are NO plastic parts in a real Rolex. Almost all fakes have silver colored or gold plated movements. All fakes have a plastic ring inside to mount the movement.

7. You can take the watch to a dealer for service. If the watch is real, then he or she will charge you $600, and the watch will be like new (keep in mind that all high end watches need regular maintenance). If the watch is fake, it might be confiscated, but who cares in that case.



Three hundred dollars is too cheap for a Rolex even 20 years ago. That must be a mistake.|||it usually has something engraved into it and is very smooth, it may also look extremely shiny even though its age is old.|||The usual way is the second hand- there's no jerky "tick" - it's entirely smooth.|||the second hand dosnt tick at all, it runs smoothly