Official Guide: How To Spot A Fake Tudor (2024)

Last Updated on April 12, 2024 by Ch David

We get it, spotting fake Tudor watches wasn’t always so easy, especially when trying to buy one – you feel more pressure on your shoulder because you’re definitely trying to buy an authentic one and not to get scammed with a fake.

But our Tudor experts here to help.

How to tell a fake Tudor watch

You can tell the difference between a fake Tudor and a real Tudor by checking the dial’s inscriptions. Fake watches always have misplaced inscriptions that often look too thick or too thin.

1. Dial

• The fake “TUDOR” and how the “GENEVE” inscriptions look too thick.
  • The letters are too bulky and generally just too massive.
• All three little lines of text look too thick on the fake Tudor.
  • This flaw can be noticed best if you look at the word “CHRONOMETER”.
  • That word has all of its lines too tiny and too narrow.

Let our experts authenticate your Tudor:

2. Hands

• The replica watch has a different finish that displays a lower manufacturing quality and consistency.
• The fake watch’s hands (hours, minutes and seconds hand) look different even between them.

Lets look at another comparison:

Yet again, the same flaw is visible in the image with the real vs fake Tudor watches above as well.

3. Bezel

Precisely, we are going to care about the bezel’s colour, the numbers that are printed on it, and also the rotation of the bezel.

3.1. Tudor Pepsi

• The fake watch has both the blue and the red colours being too light. They’re not concentrated enough.
• The fake Tudor watch’s prints (numbers and dots) look too thick.

You should also take a look at the printed number “6” on the bezel, and the two bezel’s color mix in that area, both on the genuine and the fake watch.

3.2. Tudor Red

• The shade of red used on the fake bezel is too concentrated, as it looks way darker than it should.
• The authentic Tudor watch’s shade of red is lighter, presenting a less saturated red.

4. Crown symbol

The crown presents the famous “Tudor Rose” symbol.

• The fake watch has its rose looking too sharp.
• The fake rose is detailed too much, and hence, it is too opaque.
• The rose is so opaque makes it noticeable to the naked eye.

The authentic Tudor watch has its rose looking less sharp since it is less noticeable and less flashy than the real one.

A quick mention:

• The steps we’ve written so far are the BEST ways to authenticate this item
• The next few steps are still reliable methods…
• … but they apply to non-top-versions of replicas available for this item

If in doubt, we recommend double-checking the steps we’ve explained above this line.

5. Crown rotation

• A fake Tudor watch will most likely have its crown rotating less easily and with less effort than a real one.

Keep in mind that the crown of an authentic Tudor watch has to be rotated smoothly, with no big effort.

6. Case-back

• The fake letters don’t meet the required thickness in order to be considered legit.
• The fake “TUDOR” text and the rest of the engravings are too thin.

A difference in terms of engraving consistency can definitely be seen when comparing the genuine Tudor watch with a replica Tudor watch.

7. Lume (Glow)

• The fake Tudor’s shining is too weak.
• That means that the fake watch glows too little in the dark when it should glow more.

On the genuine Tudor, the glowing is way higher and more powerful than the fake one.

8. Bracelet & Clasp

• The fake Tudor watch’s link is too big, while the clasp seen on the real watch is smaller.
• As for the “TUDOR” text, the fake text fits too deep into the metal.
• Hence, the fake “TUDOR” text is more noticeable and pronounced.

9. Engravings

• The fake watch has its “GAS ESCAPE VALVE” too little visible.
• The same text is too thick when compared to the real watch’s text.

Speaking of the real one, you can notice how it has its “GAS ESCAPE VALVE” text more visible and also thinner than the fake one, presenting a much higher quality when it comes to the engravings.

Shortlist: How to authenticate a Tudor

1. Check the text on the dial and make sure that all of the characters have the correct thickness
2. Look at the finishing of the hands on your Tudor watch, as the fake pieces tend to present a visible lower quality
3. Have a quick look at the bezel and be sure that your watch has the right thickness for its characters, as well as the right shade for its bezel. Rotate it and make sure it runs smooth and consistent
4. Inspect the crown’s famous “Tudor Rose”. Mostly, the fake Tudor watches have this detail too sharp and therefore too visible and too loud
5. Authenticate the crown’s rotation. The fake watches tend to rotate less smoothly than the real ones
6. Check the engravings on the case back, as the fake Tudor watches usually have their text too thin and fit too deep inside the steel
7. Examine the lume effect. Mostly, the fake Tudors shine too little when in the dark
8. Inspect the bracelet and the clasp’s detailing because the fake Tudor watches usually have their clasp too large and the “TUDOR” text is improperly font-weighted and fits deep into the steel
9. Lastly, remember to inspect other engravings found on the Tudor watches, as they tend to have a lower consistency

The 9 detailed real vs fake Tudor steps outlined above might not be so practical when you are in a hurry or when you want to buy the item online.

That is why we have compiled this quick 60 seconds solution to authenticating your Tudor watch.

Expert Tudor authentication

If you need help with the authentication of your Tudor watch, we’ve got you covered.

All you have to do is send us high-quality pictures of your Tudor watch and we will get back to you with the results within 48 hours. The results will also come with a report on why we believe your Tudor watch model is fake or authentic.

That brings us to the end of our guide on how to spot fake vs real Tudor watches. We will continue to update this article as better and newer comparisons are put out.

Need our opinion in regards to the authenticity of your watch? It’s a service we provide.

Alternatively, we have free authentication resources for watches: written guides and video tutorials.

Thank you for reading this,

Ch Alex