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I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To
I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking.
Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two.
I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh.
Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.
The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown
It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart.
I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out.
But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission.
A Dirty Little Secret
Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers.
Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch.
I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus.
It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world.
The Mission: Find the Super Fakes
My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared.
As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating.
I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right?
Late Night Reddit Research
I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect.
There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on.
It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal.
Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing
In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes.
There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing.
In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane.
After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor.
Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it.
The Sketchy Encounter
Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went:
“I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.”
He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel
“No, not good enough. I want better quality.”
“Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.”
He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel
“No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”
He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me
“So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?”
Grabs my wrist
“Oh, you want that one? Okay.”
He pulls me to a different section of the store.
I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches.
You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for.
As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.”
At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas.
The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there.
The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there.
Testing the Movement
The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would.
That’s what really got me.
Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location.
To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are.
The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber.
Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand.
Comparison
| Product | Key Features | Build Quality | Authenticity Indicators | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi | Unmatched craftsmanship Iconic design Official Rolex movement | Flawless bezel color Smooth crown operation Precise mechanisms | Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers | Upwards of $11,000 |
| Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) | High-quality replica Accurate bezel color Mimics Rolex features | Convincing build with slight flaws (wobbly crown, lower resistance) | Sticker with ‘Clean’ branding Indistinguishable at a glance | $400–$800 (negotiation dependent) |
The Negotiation Dance
Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent.
The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal.
So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?”
“$1,000.”
Absolutely not.
Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for.
“Give me your best number; no playing around.”
He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500.
“$450.”
He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it.
He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.”
Making the Right Decision
Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone.
To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same.
So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it.
And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner.
A Warning About Super Fakes
So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article.
In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult.
So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source.
If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit…
Watch This Review
Final Thoughts and a Question for You
I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys.
Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel?
When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place.
For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait.
From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party)
It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.
In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans. To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: