Anyone ever buy a replica Rolex?

[TheSiege]

Are they any good? I have seen some online for 1200 and some for 200. Anyone have any luck with them? Thoughts? Opinions? Etc...

 

[sdifox]

why bother

 

[TheSiege]

Please don't be dismissive. My motivations aren't relevant. I am just wondering if anyone has any experience in what I mentioned.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

My dad got one for me when I was in highschool or fresh year of college while he was in China for business.

$10, one of those self-winding ones that took no battery. It was okay but my citizen was much better/wasn't fake so I stopped wearing the Folex.

I actually have no idea where it is now.

 

[JulesMaximus]

A guy I work with has one. Not sure why he would admit that quite frankly, he has a couple other nice watches that make it into his rotation.

I wouldn't wear a fake personally. You get what you pay for and Rolex generally hold their value pretty well.

 

[deadlyapp]

There are two different ways you can go, full blown fake rolex which is going to be a chinese (or similar) knockoff with a cheap quartz movement and poor construction, or a replica, which may cost several hundred but may use a high quality automatic movement, high quality materials, but likely won't be branded "Rolex" - will just look identical.

I would never think about buying a fake, they're cheap and would be easy to tell apart, but I've often thought about getting replicas of other high end watches (eg Panerai) which you can usually find in the $200-400 range and are nearly identical other than the branding and the movement.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

My dad got one for me when I was in highschool or fresh year of college while he was in China for business.

$10, one of those self-winding ones that took no battery. It was okay but my citizen was much better/wasn't fake so I stopped wearing the Folex.

I actually have no idea where it is now.

Similar. Aunt was in Korea. Sent home a half dozen of the things, said they were $30 each. They said Rolex on them.

They were working watches, but I stopped wearing watches when cell phones were invented.

My dad wore his for a while, but the "metal" paint wore off and it looked crappy. I think they ended up disposed of.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Similar. Aunt was in Korea. Sent home a half dozen of the things, said they were $30 each. They said Rolex on them.

They were working watches, but I stopped wearing watches when cell phones were invented.

My dad wore his for a while, but the "metal" paint wore off and it looked crappy. I think they ended up disposed of.

That's another thing, a fake will not wear like a Rolex does. If a Rolex is gold it is made entirely of gold (well, Rolex's proprietary blend of gold anyway), not gold plated, so while you can scratch it, it will still be gold underneath and you can polish a Rolex back to like new. You can't do that with a fake.

Then again, a new Rolex costs several thousands of dollars. You could buy a lot of fakes for that kind of money.

 

[PottedMeat]

I have seen some online for 1200 and some for 200.

whats the point of it if you can't haggle down a '$200' watch made with $5 worth of materials and labor down to $50 in person with broken english?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Are they any good? I have seen some online for 1200 and some for 200. Anyone have any luck with them? Thoughts? Opinions? Etc...

Just out of curiosity, what model are you thinking of buying?

 

[DigDog]

i own a replica rolex that costs just over e100 (well, it was 15 years ago). it works flawlessly (inlcuding the 4-times-a-second movement) and looks just like the real thing. really awesome watch. it's ridiculously accurate too, despite the mechanism which winds itself when you wear it.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

i own a replica rolex that costs just over e100 (well, it was 15 years ago). it works flawlessly (inlcuding the 4-times-a-second movement) and looks just like the real thing. really awesome watch. it's ridiculously accurate too, despite the mechanism which winds itself when you wear it.

Hmmm...

brand/source?

 

[theeedude]

I bought something like that as a novelty in China long time ago, although it was a "Breitling". I think it ended up something like 5 bucks with some bargaining. It was mechanical movement too. Good for gifts to poor relatives.

 

[UNCjigga]

I've had my eye on this replica Submariner for a while...https://www.amazon.com/Invicta-Diver-Collection-Coin-Edge-Automatic/dp/B00AH3DCAA

Too bad they stopped making these with real sapphire crystal glass.

Don't be ashamed to spend a few hundred on a decent replica, but don't by a cheap quartz knockoff that actually says "Rolex".

 

[Carson Dyle]

You get what you pay for

No, you don't. Not when you buy a designer label. If you don't care, and you want that label to show off, that's fine. You won't be the only one.

and Rolex generally hold their value pretty well.

And your kid will appreciate that when he sells it a week after you're dead.

 

[deadlyapp]

I've had my eye on this replica Submariner for a while...https://www.amazon.com/Invicta-Diver-Collection-Coin-Edge-Automatic/dp/B00AH3DCAA

Too bad they stopped making these with real sapphire crystal glass.

Don't be ashamed to spend a few hundred on a decent replica, but don't by a cheap quartz knockoff that actually says "Rolex".

Invicta at one point was reasonable quality but these days are such a shady bunch of people, over inflated MSRPs, and sold on TV junk that I'd never trust anything from them. I have a couple of their older models that are fantastic but would never try to find a current model unless it was less than $50.

 

[DigDog]

Hmmm...

brand/source?

literally off the street. bought from a chinese guy with a folding table in the middle of the street in rome. it's a gold and silver submariner replica with 12 small "diamonds" exactly like this:

 

[JulesMaximus]

No, you don't. Not when you buy a designer label. If you don't care, and you want that label to show off, that's fine. You won't be the only one.

That's just your opinion. Fact is a good friend of mine bought a genuine two-tone Rolex Submariner approx. 17 years ago and he could sell it today for a couple thousand dollars more than what he paid for it. A fake Rolex is worth absolutely nothing no matter how much you pay for it.

And your kid will appreciate that when he sells it a week after you're dead.

That's entirely up to him. Beats leaving him with a room full of old vinyl or a house full of antiques... or worse, a fake Rolex.

 

[DigDog]

it also had that "holo"sticker on so it might be this very product here:
http://www.rolexreplica.me.uk/repli...-gold-dial-blue-bezel-twotone-2299-p-248.html

 

[Scarpozzi]

My cousin used to live in Heidelberg, Germany. He'd bring them back from somewhere over there @ around $40 US for the self-winding type. I had it for a number of years before it started losing time. It looked like a Rolex, but the action wasn't as smooth as a real one....the second hand had a slight jerk to it as it moved.

I'm not sure what they go for now or how *nice they are. You certainly get what you pay for on the materials side of things....they're throwaways because they're just made of cheap metal and not all replicas are created equal... When I was in Italy 12 years ago, a friend of mine bought a Ferrari watch off the street. The hands fell off the watch about 30 minutes after he bought it and the guy was long gone. No joke...I don't even know how he was able to sell a watch like that without it breaking before money changed hands...

 

[TheSiege]

Probably this one. http://www.rolexreplica.me.uk/rolex-datejust-automatic-black-dial-1026-p-49.html
I just want one for fun, kinda like when people dress up or role play.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Probably this one. http://www.rolexreplica.me.uk/rolex-datejust-automatic-black-dial-1026-p-49.html
I just want one for fun, kinda like when people dress up or role play.

Ever think about buying a real one? The Datejust isn't completely unaffordable. It isn't as desirable as the sport oriented models but still a classic Rolex design.

https://www.bobswatches.com/mens-rolex-datejust-stainless-steel.html

 

[Tormac]

I bought a cheap "folex" for a friend once as a gag gift from one of my trips to China. I think I paid around 60 rmb (about $8 US) for it. It was self winding and said "Rolex" on the face, but in every way was junk. I have seen nicer Rolex knock offs in China for around 1000 rmb or so (about $150 US) on up. The more one spends, the nicer they will be, but they are always a knock off.

From what I have read about Rolex, and other top quality brand of watches, they reach a point where they stop depreciating as long as they are taken care of. If you seriously want a Rolex watch, I would look into buying an older one that has hit the bottom of their depreciation curve. To get a top quality fake Rolex that will actually fool people who know a little bit about watches you are going to have to spend as much as what an older real one would cost. Why not look into buying an older real Rolex watch, or other comparable brand?

 

[ElFenix]

i got a few self-winding folexes in malaysia about 15 years ago. most stopped working in short order. one worked for over a year until the face and movement somehow disconnected from the case. don't think i paid over $30 for any of them.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Ever think about buying a real one? The Datejust isn't completely unaffordable. It isn't as desirable as the sport oriented models but still a classic Rolex design.

https://www.bobswatches.com/mens-rolex-datejust-stainless-steel.html

You can even do better than Bobs prices.