It’s a normal phenomenon, but many watch fans have an unfortunate patellar-reflex response to seeing precious stones or gems on watches. I think there are some reasons for it: the often ugly bejeweled timepiece; crappy aftermarket jobs; an unfortunate desire to distance oneself from anything “bling”; Besides, it is just the fact that there are not many factory-made men’s fake watches done with gems that aren’t “diamond explosions” or just come off too effeminate. While it’s obvious that this piece is going to be geared towards the mainland Chinese market, I think this can be seen as a viable men’s watch in the Western market as well.
The fake Rolex Yacht-Master has a bidirectional rotating bezel set with 38 sapphires, 8 tsavorites (the green gems), and 1 diamond at 12 o’clock. The uniformity of the gems in respective color and shape is amazing to behold and I can’t imagine even the most critical hater not admiring it if they were to find one of these watches on their wrist. When discussing the far more elaborate and rare Day-Date 40 Green Emerald Platinum watch, our David Bredan discusses the work that goes into Rolex’s gem-setting:
“For models set with colored gemstones – rubies, sapphires, or, in this case, emeralds – Rolex replica takes particular care in ensuring that all the stones on a given watch are of the same hue, using a combination of a long sorting process carried out by hand, stone by stone in the Rolex workshops, as well as by using one of Rolex’s several sophisticated machines that are, Rolex says, usually only found in independent gemological laboratories. The result is genuinely unbelievable – if one is familiar with precious stones and gems, it is no secret that it takes sorting through hundreds, if not thousands of pieces to find a bezel-worth of stones that are such a perfect match in color. If anything, it is almost (I said almost!) too perfect as, frankly, I hitherto thought such impeccable matching of colors and shapes would only be possible if every stone were entirely artificial.”
Like the non-gem model, this Yacht-Master 40 comes on the Oysterflex strap introduced in 2015. Not technically rubber, the elastomer strap is fit with a titanium nickel alloy “blade” underneath to give it a more secure fit. The strap also has the well-received “fins” underneath, which is designed to create a very small space between the skin and the bracelet allowing for some flexibility during hot and cold weather. The dial is slightly different, with the fake Rolex choosing a glossy black finish as opposed to the matte dial on the non-gem model.
Functionality isn’t affected by the functioning bi-directional bezel, and it’s still a real dive watch with 100M water resistance. The double anti-reflective coated crystal and Chromalight lume hands should make for legibility in the dark, as well.
As far as I am concerned, the current popularity of the practice of men’s suits being mixed up with bright and colorful ties or socks shows a propensity to add color (with some restraint) to break up the mundane. This fake watch costs a lot more than a tie, but I see it much the same way. It’s the watch you wear to a party to show off your style (and bank account) without the guilt and stigma, fair or not, of fessing up to an aftermarket job to your more conservative watch collector friends.