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Some people call them Rolex Replicas. Others, Rolex knock-offs (which tends to be a little more derogatory). A more neutral term for these timepieces would probably be the phrase 'imitation Rolex', which is what we will use for the purposes of this discussion.
Why the phrase 'imitation Rolex'? At first glance, it may seem obvious, since a copy Rolex, is an imitation of the original. However, the real question in most people's minds, especially for those who have never purchase an imitation Rolex before, is : how good exactly are these copies?
The answer - in truth : very, very good.
Think about it - millions of dollars have gone into the research and production facilities of these imitation Rolex. They are not produced by just any mom and pop outfit - but actually produced and manufactured in huge facilities, with master craftsman, just like an original Rolex. The only difference obviously is that they don't actually 'own' the Rolex brand.
An imitation Rolex, in many people's opinion, can be somewhat compared to the field of generic medication. Consider that when a pharmaceutical firm releases a medication after extensive testing with the FDA, they are granted a patent on this medication, which essentially protects their commercial rights over the aforementioned drug. There is simply NO OTHER PURPOSE for the patent - it is not meant to protect the patient (except through the convoluted long winded explanations), but really to protect the drug company.
Consider that Rolex as the parent company is similar to these drug companies in that they own the patent on Rolex indefinitely. And just as the generic medications are 100% identical in efficacy to the original (once the patent expires), you can view these Swiss imitation Rolex watches in exactly the same light - for all intents and purposes and all practical uses, these imitation Rolexes are as good as the original.
Keep in mind that the external casing for these imitation Rolex - especially the Swiss grade models - use identical materials to the original Rolex watches. Consider also that the machinations used in the Swiss imitation Rolex are actually genuine Swiss movements.
For example, the imitation Rolex Submariner (Swiss grade) uses the Swiss ETA 25 jewel 2834-2 movement in its casing, which is certainly nearly as accurate as the original Rolex 31 jewel movement. Practically speaking, to 99.9% of us, the difference in accuracy between these two Swiss movements is so minute as to be virtually meaningless.
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