While the explosive growth of the vintage replica watch market over the past few years has revealed many hidden gems that in past years would have gone unnoticed, some incredible timepieces have indeed been hidden or forgotten by the world. A recent episode of PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow” was a perfect example, with an unnamed U.S. air force veteran being evaluated with a brand-new “Paul Newman” Rolex Daytona. According to the man, he bought it at a military base exchange during his time in Vietnam in 1974 for $345.97, but when the watch arrived through mail he decided it was easy to wear and stashed it in a safe deposit box along with all boxes and papers for the next 45 years. The expert appraisal of $500,000 to $700,000 stunned the owner completely and showed that the “Paul Newman” Daytona market remains red-hot. Those of us who collect vintage timepieces are a reminder that these nearly mythical finds do still exist in 2020.

2019 was a mixed year for the luxury watch industry as a whole. While the Americas and Europe continued to show strong growth throughout the year, political turmoil and the removal of favorable import taxes in Hong Kong took a heavy toll on overall industry performance. The swatch group is a perfect example. In its 2019 sales report, released this week, net sales outside Hong Kong rose 5 percent year on year. However, once Hong Kong is included, swatch’s global net sales fell 1.8 percent. Hong Kong has been a similar drag on LVMH’s sales, but that hasn’t stopped the luxury group from Posting record growth figures in its 2019 earnings report. The group’s overall revenue rose 15 percent in 2018, with the lion’s share attributed to LVMH’s fashion and cosmetics group (particularly Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior), while profits at its fake watch brands rose 5 percent from 2018. Bulgari and Hublot are the two fastest-growing brands mentioned in the report. Overall, this suggests that the luxury watch market will be strong going into 2020, although it is unclear how brands will respond to declining revenues in traditional watch centers such as Hong Kong.
Geneva-based De Grisogono may be best known as a high-end diamond jeweler, but it is also a boutique watchmaker, has filed for bankruptcy this week. The announcement came as part of the national diamond mining company Angola, which claims to own part of the company, spent hundreds of millions of dollars by the Angolan government over suspicious dealings with Isabella DOS Santos, the wife of some of the company’s owners, Sindika Dokolo, and the daughter of the former Angolan President Jose Eduardo DOS Santos. DOS Santos, recently dubbed Africa’s richest woman, was accused in the Luanda leak of embezzling millions of dollars from the Angolan government through a complex network of state-sponsored bank loans. If the Swiss government accepts the bankruptcy filing, 65 De Grisogno employees stand to their jobs.
While some major brands have decided to skip the Baselworld trade show in 2020, not all of the news preceding the watch industry centerpiece is negative. Dolce&Gabbana Group, the luxury design giant, announced this week that it would display its Alta Orologia and Alta Gioielleria replica watches and jewelry in Baselworld for the first time in 2020. As part of the presentation, Dolce&Gabbana is expected to debut a proprietary in-house movement.
In 2020, the trend for vintage-inspired diving watches shows no signs of slowing down, as Swatch Group brand Certina has searched all the way back to 1968 in its archives for the latest iteration of the DS dive watch. The watch draws its striking orange dial design comes from the original DS-2 Super PH500M, which was used in the Tektite I underwater experiment in 1969 when a team of four scientists spent two months in an underwater research pod. While the bold style is straight from the 60s, the specification is completely modern with a 43 mm diameter case, sapphire crystals, and a huge 500 meters water resistance. The DS super PH500M Special Edition is powered by the Powermatic 80 automatic movement, providing up to 80 hours of power storage and an anti-magnetic Nivachron balance spring. DS Super PH500M is now available at authorized dealers for $922. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.

It’s famous that Rolex spends so much money sponsoring high-profile sports competitions and athletes such as Roger Federer and Tiger Woods. Less famed, but of arguably far greater importance is the great investment the iconic Swiss watch brand spends on making the world a better place. It doesn’t get the same media attention as golf or tennis partnerships, but it goes well beyond the symbolic contributions most brands make to the cause of altruism. The prime example is the replica Rolex enterprise award. 
Since 1976, in keeping with its fame for being on the cutting edge of horological technology, Rolex has been supporting men and women who are trying to literally change the world via inventions and innovations that contribute to our way of life. The motto of the Awards is “Anyone Can Change Anything.”
These are not scientific professionals backed by big industry, but independent individuals who often toil in obscurity without regard for financial gain. And for the first time in the awards’ 43-year history, members of the public can now vote for the candidates they think are the most deserving of Rolex’s generous stipend of 200,000 Swiss Francs
Rolex selected five recipients from a list of 10 finalists for the money, which will go to help further the individual’s missions. This year’s 10 finalists come from all over the world, with projects ranging from reducing wildlife and human conflict in India to helping paralyzed people walk again and even saving the world’s threatened penguins, the evening standard reported.
One of the prime candidates for the Enterprise Awards is Sara Saeed, the Pakistani-based CEO of Sehat Kahani, which aims to match home-based female doctors with people in rural and impoverished communities around the world via digital technology. Another finalist, Emma Camp, is a marine biologist from the UK who “decided to use the world’s toughest corals to help reverse the effect of climate change,” the paper notes. 
Then there is Brian Gitta, a Ugandan IT specialist who has developed a portable electronic device that can give reliable malaria readings in minutes without drawing blood. This could indeed improve the lives of millions of people in 15 sub-Saharan countries in Africa and South Asia, which are particularly vulnerable to Rolex replica watches. Other shortlisted projects include protecting giant fish, recycling non-recyclable plastic waste, and exploring remote volcanoes that affect the earth’s climate.

The Rolex Daytona, one of the most classic watch series ever, became a collector’s piece and a must-have to all watch lovers. But we must ask if it’s worthwhile for the $85,700 platinum version? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.
Rolex was launched in 1908 making quality watches. In 1926 they released the first waterproof watch, the “Oyster”, which established the brand as a sports watch, thanks to the famous English Channel crossing by the British swimmer Mercedes Gleitze.
Sure, they also have a “social” design, the Cellini, since the 1970s, but frankly speaking, have you ever seen someone wearing a fake Cellini? If you have, congratulations! As far as I know, almost everyone wants a Rolex Oyster, a water-resistant watch.
Except for quartz movement models, Rolex Cellini, and Oyster (produced until 2001), replica Rolex is always famous for its automatic winding models. The Cosmograph Daytona was a child band of their 1950’s chronograph and we’ve talked about his before.
The watch became well known when Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Paul Newman” model got many different versions. What the most famous version were those with the so-called “Panda” dials – white dial with black subdials and vice-versa, resembling the “bear” eyes. (Rolex called them “exotic dials.”)
In some countries such as Brazil, however, the inexpensive fake Rolex Cosmograph Daytona did not perform well on market. Because every Rolex fan prefers the “perpetual” automatic movement, patented in 1931. But the Daytona had a manual winding mechanism, which made it stay unsold on sellers showcases. Nobody wants to use a fake Rolex that had to be wound manually.
Some collectors in Europe began to buy those “old stock” cheap Daytonas with distinct features around the world and their prices began to rise in auctions. Small differences in the dials made a watch gain thousands of dollars over its ordinary counterpart. Thus the collector fever started.
Later, in 1988, Rolex had a new design of fake Daytona. First, they change the older Valjoux mechanism with a Zenith El Primero self-winding movement, one of the best chronograph movements ever made. It was adjusted by Rolex to reduce maintenance costs. Also, instead of the smaller case diameter of the first models (37 mm), now the replica watch had a 40 mm case, screw-down chronograph pushers, and a sapphire crystal instead of a plastic window.

You might miss the news that the fake Rolex has launched for the very first time a ‘Pepsi’ GMT-Master II in ‘Oystersteel’. Yes, a two-color red and blue Cerachrom bezel insert, WITH a Jubilee bracelet. The five-link Jubilee bracelet is also made from Oystersteel and characterized as an ‘Oysterclasp’, which has access for 5mm of adjustment. It’s also worth noting that this is the first time we’ve seen a Jubilee bracelet on a sports Rolex in modern times. 
The Oyster case also gained some changes and has been redesigned. It’s noticeably different in comparison to the GMT-Master II BLNR (Batman), which is also still in production. Aesthetics aside, the new Pepsi GMT also features a completely new generation movement — the 3285 caliber, which features a beefed-up 70-hour power reserve.
Another small but noteworthy detail is the extra Rolex crown on the dial, which you’ll notice at six o’clock, between ‘Swiss’ and ‘Made’. This appears to be on all new 2018 models. They are small touches like these that help collectors distinguish between different references at the first view, and are often used historically as markers of a transitional period.
Rumors were going wild as to exactly what GMT configuration we’d see from the replica Rolex this year and really went crazy when teaser videos showing the makings of a Jubilee bracelet were released. Normally, I suppose it’s safe to say the watch community has been crying out for another steel GMT with either the Coke or Pepsi bezel inserts. Even though the Rolex provided the Pepsi bezel in white gold, the price of entry was far too high.
If early feedback from the public is anything to go by, then Pepsi is a hit. It’s obvious that a lot of work has gone into the design and execution of the Pepsi — the Rolex replica put in a lot of effort when making this vintage-inspired piece. As a matter of fact, this unique model has 10 patents, from the clasp to the movement.

Rolex enlarged their Explorer line of watches in 1971. Instead of simply being a new version of the existing Explorer watch, this watch was a totally different timepiece and was consequently given the “Explorer II” designation. Designed particularly for speleologists exploring deep caverns below the earth’s surface, the fake Explorer II characterized a large 24-hour hand, and a fixed, stainless steel bezel with 24-hour markings to serve as a great prominent AM/PM indicator. 
The Rolex Explorer II replica watches were met with a rather mixed reaction from the public upon its initial release. Relatively few people liked a watch specifically designed for professional cave exploring, and many criticized the design of the model as cluttered and difficult to read. Despite having a rather narrow and unusually specific target demographic, the Rolex Explorer II has remained in production and has become one of the cornerstone offerings in Rolex’s current sports watch lineup.
Subsequent generations of the Rolex Explorer II far more closely resembled each other in design, but this unique model used a different dial and handset than Rolex fitted to all other Explorer II references.
Inside the Rolex replica, Explorer II resides Rolex’s caliber 3187 movement, which features Paraflex shock absorbers for greater shock/impact resistance, and an hour hand that can be independently set from the 24-hour hand to simultaneously display a second-time zone. What’s more, different from the original one, which was only ever fitted with a black dial, this fake watch is available with either a black or white (polar) dial, with the “Explorer II” name now appearing in orange text to match its signature, bright-orange, 24-hour hand.
One of the very special features of the replica Rolex as a company is that they are constantly working to refine and upgrade their watches; however, they are always moving forward with their designs and never make heritage or re-issue pieces. Although that model is a very distinguished watch from the original one, the oversized, bright-orange 24-hour hand connects the two timepieces and allows the spirit of the original Explorer II to be encapsulated in a thoroughly modern sports watch that still possesses its own special and unique appearance.