Throughout the ages, a lavish golden watch was so much more than a device for telling time; it was a standard for wealth, a work of art to be worn, and sometimes even an heirloom. The ultimate enticement is to have one of these best gold watches from the coveted brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, or Audemars Piguet. But the very desirability of these watches has caused a most sophisticated and rampant market for counterfeiting. The aspiring collector—or even the discerning buyer—will often find himself petrified by the possibility of purchasing a fake. With a well-trained eye and attention to important details, everybody can eventually learn to distinguish the masterpieces from the master fakes. This guide will teach you how to distinguish fake gold watches confidently.
Start with the Weight and Feel: The Heft of Authenticity
This is the primary test and generally the most unequivocal. Precious metals are, by definition, heavy. Gold, pure or alloyed, whether it’s 18k, yellow, white, or rose, is heavy and has a weightiness and feel to it. Dense, high-quality metals come courtesy of the best houses for the movement along with the case construction. True luxury gold watches are solid, cold, and clinically compelling on the wrist.
A fake would, in most cases, feel rather light and, at minimum, would not feel cold in the way that gold does. The forger will use cheap, hollow-feeling alloys, brass, or even plastic and plate them with a thin layer of gold to bring the price down. This is what gives so many fakes away on looking closer, but really, it’s a heavy-duty first-filter weight test. If it feels like a toy or costume jewelry, it almost certainly is. Remember, you’re not just buying a brand; you’re investing in materials, and the weight is your first physical confirmation of that quality.
Deciphering the Dial: Where the Devil Is in the Details
The dial is the face of the watch, and it is the place where Nexus counterfeiters commonly make their most glaring mistakes. Real luxury watch dials are real microsurgical and artistic creations.
- Printing and Lume: Here the text, indices, and logos should all be looked through. Everything under micro-sized high quality and perfection in true watches comes perfect for crispness, neatness, and even application. Everything should have been perfectly trimmed without smudges, bubbles, or misalignments. Then, on a fake, his text might come fuzzy, poorly spaced, or carry errors in spelling. The same goes for the lume—the glow material on the hands and indices. All of the fakes bleed over or onto the edges.
- The Details of the Hands: Examine fully the hands, especially with regard to seconds if there is an automatic sweeping motion on the watch. Generally, the seconds hand of a mechanical watch should glide without experiencing an audible ticking sound. Check the finish of the hands themselves. The edges or imperfections should not be there because they should be perfectly shaped, polished, and satin finished.
- The Date Window and Cyclops: Most of the famous gold watches have a cyclops over the date magnifying it. For an original piece, this cyclops magnifies the date hugely by 2.5 times, and the alignment of the date is perfectly put at the center within the window. On the fake one, usually they have pretty weak magnifications, and the misalignment of the date can be seen. The quality of the cyclops itself is also a clue—glass or cheap-looking plastic?
The Case and the Crown: Examining the Exterior
A luxury watch’s case is engineered and finished to an exceptionally high standard. Run your finger over the edges of the case and lugs. On an authentic watch, the edges will be sharp and well-defined but not rough. Fakes often have softer, more rounded edges from inferior machining.
Pay close attention to the crown—the knob on the side used for winding and setting the time. The logo on the crown should be deeply and cleanly engraved, not just stamped or painted on. It should feel smooth, not gritty, when you unscrew it. Also check the gold. Is the color consistent? Does it reflect a rich, deep luster or look brassy and thin? Gold can be worn away on edges and between lugs to see the base metal, and that’s a dead giveaway.
The Movement: The Beating Heart
This is the most empirical but definite area for authentication. Whenever possible, try to see the movement. This is simple if the watch has a see-through case back. Note the finish of the movement. A high-end movement is a piece of art. You’ll see perlage, Geneva stripes, blued screws, and gold engravings on the rotor. It will look cleanly made, complicated, and meticulously assembled.
There will be anything plastic inside a fake movement with rough finishing and poorly stamped logos giving an afterthought to the whole picture. If a watch has a solid caseback, one can listen. Genuine mechanical movements produce quiet, refined, and rapid ticks (often 28,800 vibrations per hour), thereby giving a fluid sweep of the seconds hand. A fake produces a loud, slow tick (as in a cheap quartz movement) and has a very telltale “rotor wobble” if it’s an automatic.
Focusing on the Best Gold Watches
Price and paperwork are the last and most important checks you have to do when out shopping for one of the best gold watches. A genuine luxury gold watch will come with a lot of price tags attached to it. If the offer sounds too good to be true, there is no doubt; it is. Be extremely suspicious of sellers trying to push on you a “brand-new” Rolex President at a fraction of its market value.
Last but not least, paperwork must always accompany the watch. The box, warranty card, instruction manual, and service documents must all be there. The warranty card must also be correctly filled out, with model and serial numbers matching those engraved between the lugs on the watch case. A missing or incorrectly filled-out warranty card is one of the biggest red flags in the industry.
Fakes are spotted by a careful combination of sensory checks—weight and feel—and visual checks of dial, case, and movement. Equip yourself with the knowledge; purchase your timepiece from authorized and reputable dealers, and do not allow a “bargain” to cloud your better judgment. These will set you on a path of confidence in the investment of a beautifully crafted timepiece, which, in consideration as one of the best gold watches, will maintain its value and legacy for the years to come.
