Rolex has established from time to time that it is one of the marks of privilege and an epitome of luxury. Having started in 1905, Rolex continues to dominate the wristwatch industry. From Winston Churchill to the modern-day rapper Jay-Z, the rich and successful often adorned themselves with a Rolex watch.
Sir Malcolm Campbell, a land and water speed record holder in the early twentieth century, wore a Rolex Oyster when breaking records. This link with pioneering achievements reinforced Rolex’s image as a symbol of elegance and performance.
Unlike in the early years, Rolex started booming more when it shifted its focus from creating precision timepieces to making luxury statements with its accessories. This newfound popularity caught the eye of counterfeiters. From that time on, the numbers only saw a spike. 1.6 million fake Rolex watches infiltrate the market annually. Says the Federation of the Swiss Watch industry.
Another reason Rolex persisted in being the center of vulnerability to counterfeiting is its “Rolex Oyster.” It was in 1926 when Rolex introduced the World’s first waterproof watch. The term “Oyster” comes from the watch’s hermetically sealed case, which kept it safe from dust and moisture.
The demand for this innovation encouraged counterfeiters to replicate its design and function despite its filed patent.
Serial numbers to tackle dupes of Rolex
The first step to tackle the problem of dupes was for Rolex to use unique serial numbers on its watches. In the 1930s, a genuine Rolex’s serial and model numbers were deep and neatly marked in solid, excellent lines that shone in the light at an angle like a diamond-cut edge.
Due to a lower-quality marking procedure of counterfeiters, the numbers on many fake or counterfeit watches are often made up of faint microscopic dots. In certain situations, the numbers on counterfeit timepieces acquire a sandy appearance.
But mere markings of numbers can be copied with the perseverance counterfeiters hold. Rolex proceeded with bringing up new ways to approach this issue. That fact backs up this method’s inefficacy despite the lack of numbers to back it up.
Fame through RAF and Sponsorships
In World War II, the British Royal Air Force adopted Rolex watches as a standard gear for its pilots for their impeccable accuracy and quality. This military endorsement further solidified the brand’s image, so much so that these Rolex timepieces were taken by the Nazi soldiers when they captured RAF pilots.
A decade later, Rolex watches first appeared on movie screens, with celebrities like Sean Connery wearing them in James Bond flicks. This contributed to the brand’s increased visibility and popularity among moviegoers and its image as a symbol of elegance and sophistication.
Other associations with Tennis tournaments and Autoraces maximized its fame. In 1978, Rolex became the official timekeeper of Wimbledon, which increased its appeal among tennis fans. The brand’s link with Wimbledon, one of the World’s most renowned tennis events, reinforced its reputation as a luxury brand.
These collaborations with the military, movie industry, and sports fueled its sales and its growing counterfeiting industry. Counterfeiters have even attempted to supply fake Rolex watches to the military.
The second intervention to counterfeiting
In the 1950s, around the growing chaos of fakes, Rolex turned to the Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified designation. The words “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified” were displayed on the dials of watches having this accreditation. This certification made it easier for customers to recognize genuine Rolex watches.
Rolex’s Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified designation is based on several parameters, including movement precision, material quality, reliability, and overall watch performance. Rolex assures the perfection of their timepieces by putting them through a battery of tests, including accuracy, water resistance, and self-winding. Each watch is carefully examined and certified to meet stringent criteria. This certification was intended to give customers confidence in the authenticity and performance of their Rolex watches.
As anyone could have guessed, this certification is not wholly immune to challenges posed by counterfeit or duplicate Rolex watches. The lack of consumer knowledge is likely to have facilitated counterfeiting to continue.
Holograms to the rescue
It was in the 1980s when Rolex tried to compensate for the impotence of its previous anti-counterfeiting methods with hologram-encoded stickers. Above the watch’s case reference number is a crown logo on a hologram sticker that appears three-dimensional and changes in the light when viewed from various angles. The background pattern may be easily recognized by looking at the Hologram from multiple angles.
The incompetence of plain holograms is well known. Replication of hologram stickers wasn’t a challenge. Down the line, the usage of holograms was discontinued. There wasn’t one feature that could certainly stop the cloning.
The following blog shall delve into the anti-counterfeit journey of Rolex in the next decades. To read the part II of this blog, Click here!
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