Over the last four years there has been a resurgence in interest for 18-karat yellow gold perfect US Rolex replica watches. Much of that is due to fatigue over the long-running craze for steel tool watches, but it is also in part due to the rising value of gold (which shows no sign of slowing), rendering these once undesirable pieces increasingly worth collecting. Add to that the fact that, in some niche and stylish circles, unusual bracelet treatments, gem-setting, and interesting dials are becoming increasingly appealing and you have a new wave of watch collecting emerging. Steel sports watches are still the bread and butter for most dealers, but as pockets of interest in more unusual timekeepers, often from younger and fashion-forward collectors, continue to rise we’re seeing some really fun pieces pop up on the market. Case in point: This 1980s AAA China Rolex Day-Date fake watches in 18-karat yellow gold with a sapphire and diamond dial from Wind Vintage currently available exclusively on The Vault.
It wasn’t that long ago that dealers had a hard time unloading an all-gold gem-set piece. Eric Wind, the notable dealer and founder of Wind Vintage, says five years ago he would have sold this high quality replica Rolex watches for around $15,000 to $18,000. The asking price today? $29,000. “It is very rare,” he tells Robb Report. “I think that was all clearly hand-done. Funnily enough, bark watches were not very desirable in the past. You know, even five to 10 years ago, they were very, very hard to sell. But, over the last three to five years, there’s been such an emergence and interest in jewelry and watches and work like that engraving and other kind of artistic forms that the watches took.” The style of engraving he is referring to on this luxury copy Rolex watches can be seen on the bezel and middle links of the bracelet that is referred to as “bark” for its rough tree-like appearance.
And while the bracelet is certainly a notable feature that will stand out in a sea of best 2025 replica Rolex Submariner and Daytona watches, the dial is also worth bragging about. Its diamond minutes track and sapphire hour markers are executed in what is known as a “string dial” because it looks like a string of pearls. “They’ve become very popular,” says Wind. “They were very expensive back in the 80s, just because of the cost of the stones, and there are just not many that exist on the planet.” Likewise, Wind says the canary yellow matte dial is not something he comes across often, having only seen a couple of others.
Part of what makes this Swiss made fake Rolex watches so hard to find on the market is that pieces like this often didn’t survive past their ’80s heyday. “A lot of times these watches were so undesirable that dealers would replace the bezel inserts and put on fluted inserts, or smooth bezels or fluted bezels and melt down the bracelets or polish the center link so they looked like standard top Rolex Day-Date replica watches. Those dealers should have learned that what goes around, always comes around. Now with these interesting US perfect Rolex super clone watches on the rise, they’ll become even harder to find.