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The most obvious counterfeits can be identified within seconds of contact. While many of these tips will not apply to watches that are bought online, knowing the basics of counterfeit identification is a great first step.

1. Movement - Simply looking at the movement of the watch is enough to blow the cover on most fakes. Rolex watches (with the exception of the Oysterquartz) appear to have a silky smooth “sweeping” movement - The “sweeping” movement comes from the busy Rolex movement ticking five to eight times per second.

High-end replicas can also try and duplicate this smooth sweeping motion but don’t be fooled. They’ll typically use a fake Chinese or Swiss movement that is mechanical (not Quartz battery powered) that is not as smooth. It will tick about three to four times per second.

2. Clear Case-Back - A lot of high-end brands build their watches with a clear case back to show the complexity of the movement. Seeing the gears and cogs magically ticking away is mesmerizing but don’t be fooled!

Many replicas will try to show this fact off by sporting a clear case backing. While this is certainly an interesting feature that is employed by various other high end luxury watches, Rolex has never created a watch model with a clear case backing.

3. Watch weight - A combination of high quality materials in the movement, case and bracelet add up to quite a bit of weight. An all gold Rolex which is quite light is a good indication of hollow links, or simply steel that is gold-plated and thus, a fake watch.

4. Cyclops Lens - Rolex is the inventor of the Cyclops lens over the date window. This is a raised piece of glass in the 3′ o clock position that magnifies the date about 2.5 times . Many counterfeiters try and replicate this unsuccessfully.

A replica Rolex will often use a lower magnification about 1.5x. An easy way to tell is to see if the date display is magnified enough to almost fill the whole window while looking directly at it.

5. Bezel and Date Display - The alignment of the date opening and number display should be perfectly straight. Look closely at the printing of the date number (with a loupe if possible) and look for any signs of low quality printing such as uneven ink or artifacts on the background.

If you have the chance, rotate the bezel and count the number of clicks it makes in one complete rotation - authentic Rolex watches will have a bezel that clicks 120 times when rotated, fakes usually only click around 60 times. The quality of the clicks from an authentic Rolex will be very subtle and feel well very solid whereas the clicks from a fake will be a lot louder and feel a lot more “mechanical”.

Jaye Cadlah owns Time and Gems, and has been selling Rolex watches since 1997. Browse their hundreds of Mens and Ladies Rolex watches at their website or stop by their showroom located in downtown Los Angeles. TimeandGems.com also has a number of guides on buying a preowned Rolex, as well as a frequently updated blog talking about all things Rolex.