Rolex bezels come in several different styles, colors, and materials. Styles of Rolex bezels vary from smooth to fluted, rotating to fixed, and marked to unmarked. Having some basic knowledge about Rolex bezels, especially for the watch(es) in question, will prove to be useful when checking for authenticity. For example, all fluted bezels on authentic Rolex watches are made of 18k gold. Therefore, using this info, you can determine that any Rolex watch you find a watch with a fluted bezel made of platinum or stainless steel is indeed inauthentic.
Watches from the GMT-Master and GMT-Master II collection feature a characteristic two-tone bezel in various color combinations. Any Rolex watch with a two-tone bezel will have a distinct line separating the two colors as if dividing the face of the watch horizontally, through the numbers 6 and 18 on the bezel markers. If the two colors aren’t split by a clear and distinct line, if the colors look like they bleed into each other, and/or if the colors split anywhere else on the bezel besides at the numbers 6 and 18, then that watch is surely a fake Rolex.
In the comparison picture you can see some other notable discrepancies between the bezel of the real Rolex Submariner and the counterfeit:
• Size
- The size of the bezels – more specifically the width of them – is comparably different. The bezel on the counterfeit watch is noticeably skinnier in width than the bezel on the genuine Rolex.
• Insert font
- The font on both bezels is also visibly different when looking at the numbers on each bezel. The numbers on the bezel of the replica are thicker and more bolded than the numbers on the real Rolex bezel. This discrepancy is most noticeable when comparing the numbers 2, 4, and 5 between both bezels.
• Pip or Pearl
- The lume pip at the 12 o’clock on the real Rolex bezel has a distinct silver lining around it and also fits perfectly within the borders of the triangle marker around it. Whereas the pip on the counterfeit Rolex’s bezel has a bigger and thicker border around it that breaks outside the border of the triangle marker. It is also not made of lume material, which would not glow in the dark like the pip on the real Rolex bezel.
• Engraving on bezel
- The numbers and markers on the authentic Rolex’s bezel are engraved and have a very clear groove in the bezel’s surface, whereas the bezel of the replica has no groove and is a smooth surface all the way around.
• Engraving on rehaut
- On the inner ring of the bezel, or the “rehaut”, of the real Rolex you can see engravings of the word “ROLEX” five times along both the right and left side, a tiny Rolex crown logo at the 12 o’clock, and the watch’s serial number at 6 o’clock. On older Rolex watches, these details are laser-etched and not engraved. Rolex first started engraving them in 2005 to make this feature harder to duplicate. Either way, it’s a safe bet that if the rehaut of the bezel has either nothing or something else engraved/etched on it, it is likely a fake. For instance, the rehaut of this replica has zero engraving/etching on it and is merely a reflective mirror-like surface all the way around.
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Credit to The Watch Standard for these articles.
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