Narrator: Identifying a fake Rolex can be tricky.
John: You know, as a person who has been dealing
with these things for years, when it doesn't say "Swiss,"
you know something's wrong.
Narrator: John Buckley is a veteran watch dealer
who buys, sells, and repairs used Rolexes.
And they're sometimes worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It's just perfectly, perfectly done.
Narrator: These days, used watches can sell
for up to three times their retail price.
The market is estimated to be worth $20 billion,
and it's growing fast.
John: It's like everybody started buying watches.
Narrator: Because they're a good way to store money.
Between 2011 and 2021, Rolexes outperformed the stock market,
real estate, and gold.
But even experienced sellers like John have to be careful.
For one, there are counterfeits.
US Customs showed us how it seizes
up to 150,000 fake watches per year.
Steve: Rolex watches
in just plain old bubble wrap.
And Rolex would never put their watches
in little Ziploc bags.
Narrator: But spotting a fake isn't always as obvious.
If dealers like John get stuck with a counterfeit,
the effects can be disastrous.
Not just financially,
but it can also destroy their reputation.
New young bucks that come into the business,
they get caught out there real fast,
and your reputation is burned.
Burned when you can't make good on a sale.
Factory bezel, factory dial.
Narrator: We followed John
through Manhattan's famous diamond district
to see how he strikes deals in such a competitive market.
It's $13,300.
Eddie: You know, it's not so bad.
Of course it's not so bad.
Why do you think I'm offering it to you?
Narrator: This section of 47th Street
is home to over 2,600 businesses selling gems,
jewelry, and luxury watches.
John buys and sells roughly a dozen watches per week here
from stores and other collectors.
Today, he's visiting two of his regular spots.
Little Eddie's got a Patek that I need.
Hopefully, I could buy it from him.
And I'm going to show him a couple of pieces that I've got.
I've got to find it first.
John: Oh, that's good.
What's good about this watch is it comes fully complete.
Look at the condition.
You got everything?
Yeah.
Narrator: John already has a customer lined up
for this rare Patek Philippe.
John: What's the date on the papers?
I'm curious, not that it matters.
Narrator: He's hoping to get it for under $40,000.
Listen, I know it's a nice watch.
I'm not here to beat you up.
You know I need it.
$36,000?
I thought I was pretty good at $35,000.
$37,000, that's my final price.
I think it's fair.
You can think about it.
I don't have to think. Mazal.
No problem. Done.
You're the man. Thank you.
This watch will be sold for $40,000 and change.
So I'll make three grand on the watch.
Which is not bad.
Narrator: Down the street, John has his eye
on a gold Rolex Day-Date with diamonds on the bezel,
or the ring surrounding its glass.
How much is this $21,000 watch?
$25,000.
Yash.
Two three five.
You like that, right?
John: It's factory diamond dial, factory diamond bezel.
$23,500. It's a deal, but what I'm going to do,
for you, I'm going to obviously say yes, but —
John: Really?
It's beautiful.
Narrator: John typically has around 30 watches
in his collection, and most already have buyers lined up.
John: We like cash flow.
I write a check, I want to know that
I'm going to have that money back.
I'll make my profit on it and move on to the next one.
It's like the holy grail over here.
I didn't even think they were still producing them.
Narrator: He doesn't want to risk getting stuck
with something he might not sell.
Even if he loves it.
Like this diamond-studded Rolex from Qatar,
which has an asking price of $175,000.
When you look at these that they make on the street,
and you compare it to something like this,
I mean, it's a different world.
I don't have a home for it.
Narrator: Despite the high price tags, John says
he rarely makes more than a few thousand dollars per watch.
Sometimes, it's only a few hundred.
John: There are very few home runs in this game.
I mean, I don't know what is considered a home run.
Making 10 grand on a watch?
It's like, that doesn't happen.
Yasha: You know, you got it. Mazal.
John: Thank you, Yasha. Mazal.
And thank you, thank you so much.
Narrator: In fact, he makes even more money
selling obscure parts than the actual watches.
John: These are interesting.
These are called color change, or tropical.
And years ago, you know, guys would never keep this stuff.
But now, because they're unique, they keep them,
and they ask for a lot of money for them.
These are Daytona dials, which are actually pretty cool.
This is just tons of stuff.
Wallets, Rolex duffel bags, and hats.
We have it all, we do.
Narrator: He's hoarded these Rolex parts
in his workshop for 25 years.
John: We're here in the lab.
This is where I get to practice
my guerilla watchmaking skills.
You have to have a very specific part
for a very specific watch in order for it
to command a very high price.
Narrator: John has seen demand for Rolex parts
and watches skyrocket after 2017.
That's when a Rolex Daytona worn by the actor Paul Newman
broke a record, selling for $15.5 million, plus fees.
Selling officially at $15,500,000.
Thank you for your patience, Natalie.
It is history now, $15,500,000!
John: What happened after that was this big bull run,
and I hate to use stock terminology, but that's what it was.
It's like everybody started buying watches.
Narrator: In 2021, Rolex retail sales
were estimated to be higher
than the next five brands combined.
So why are they in such high demand?
First off, their reputation for quality.
They're made by hand with materials like 18-karat gold,
platinum, and stainless steel.
And there aren't many new ones entering the market.
Brands like Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet each make fewer
than 100,000 watches per year.
Rolex makes an estimated 1 million annually.
And that's still not enough to keep up with demand.
Dominick: For most people, the only way to get one
is to get one secondhand.
The result of that, in many cases, is a higher demand
than available supply, which causes prices to go up.
Narrator: Rolexes also last and can resist
all kinds of extreme conditions.
In fact, it started off as a sports brand
back in the early 20th century.
Dominick: They began making highly functional timepieces
designed to go underwater, top of mountains, on jet planes.
And these were professional-grade timepieces
for people that needed accurate measurement.
These were not collectible watches back in the day, OK?
You look at some of these
watches that are six- and seven-figure watches,
they sold for maybe a hundred bucks
at a military PX or something like that.
Narrator: Edmund Hillary, one of the first
to summit Everest, wore a Rolex Oyster Perpetual
during his expedition in 1953.
In the '60s, Rolex began sponsoring tennis matches,
auto races, and a number of high-end luxury events.
Rolexes also started showing up a lot more on movie screens.
Actor Sean Connery wore one as James Bond.
Marlon Brando wore one, too.
By the 1980s, Rolexes were sought-after collectibles.
Today, a Rolex Daytona model is so popular,
it's almost impossible to get on a waiting list.
John: I'm still on a waiting list since 1996,
just to give you an idea.
Narrator: But buyers are willing to spend a lot
to skip the line.
Which is why used Rolexes can sell for two
to three times their retail cost.
And as demand sores, watch dealers like John
have to be even warier of the biggest trap
of the trade: counterfeits.
Customs officer Steve Nethersole showed us
how they sniff out and seize counterfeit watches
at JFK Airport.
Before a package ever lands in the US,
CBP gathers intelligence on the sender,
container, and aircraft.
He'll start by looking at the box.
Well, I'm looking because I don't have my glasses on,
so I'm cheating.
The first when it comes in is the country of origin.
Louis Vuitton, they're coming from France.
The watches coming from Switzerland.
When it's coming from China,
bing, that's your No. 1 red flag.
Rolex would never put their watches in little Ziploc bags.
They don't put these inside it, the silica gel.
Rolex does not send to individuals in the United States.
They only send to their retail stores.
More than 90% of all the goods that we receive
that are counterfeit are from China.
You know, sometimes by the naked eye, you can't tell,
but sometimes it's that bad, you can.
When you look and you can see the scratches
and how it's not machined properly to a nice finish.
Narrator: So when Steve finds a counterfeit good,
he seizes it.
Then he figures out the item's MSRP
using the brand's website and CBP's internal database.
Steve: This one here would be about $11,000.
That's the MSRP.
What the manufacturer would be losing had this been genuine.
These are generally on the internet for about $200.
Narrator: Back in his workshop,
John is figuring out whether this Rolex is counterfeit.
After 25 years in the industry,
he usually knows what to look for.
John: I mean, I'm looking at the color of the case.
This piece is not the same color as this piece.
This is 18-karat gold.
We always have to check, because I can't take a chance
on paying for it, No. 1, or selling it to someone else
if I'm not sure.
Narrator: One of the most reliable ways
to test gold Rolex parts is a scratch test
on a black stone made of quartz.
Then he adds a few drops of nitric acid,
which dissolves any material that isn't gold.
John: And there you go, wow.
The acid did not dissolve the gold.
Over here, the acid dissolved the gold.
It is not authentic.
Narrator: But most of the time,
he can spot a fake with the naked eye.
John: We could usually spot these
just based on the symmetry of the case.
They don't have that nice Rolex slope.
The other obvious thing that you look at,
if you look at the amount of space between the face
and the glass, you will see that it is very high.
It's probably got an extra millimeter and a half.
Narrator: John also has his son, James,
help with fraud detection.
And I scroll through hundreds of listings,
and I pick out the 10 that are fake.
Narrator: The threat of counterfeits
hasn't stopped sellers or buyers, though.
Rolex is also getting in on the secondhand market,
launching its own program to sell pre-owned Rolexes.
Younger generations are fueling this new demand surge,
and they're finding out about these old watches on TikTok.
Narrator: John's son and his friend Tyler Mikorski
have helped him build a huge social media following.
Tyler: Buckley is with us today.
Let's get it.
James: The bread and butter is the negotiations.
You know, people like to see them,
so we want to give people what they want.
But our other thing that we really do well
is more so education content.
Today, we're going to show you how to
change the battery on a quartz watch.
Narrator: John teaches audiences
the same lessons on TikTok he showed Tyler
when he was still a kid.
Tyler: First time I ever sold a watch for Buckley,
I was 8 years old, and it was a rubber Swatch.
Remember those?
The rubber Swatch watches, and he says,
"I need $5 on each one.
Go sell them wherever. School, wherever.
And keep whatever's left after the five."
As far as the whole hustle and the whole grind,
I actually enjoy the going out there
and trying to make money aspect of this business.
$15,200, thank you.
Narrator: Despite all these new players,
John isn't worried about the competition.
If you go by these guys who fancy themselves,
you know, watch specialists,
and they've been doing this for a year or two.
You know, everybody's a specialist or an expert, OK?
Listen, I'm a frigging expert.
I've been dealing with this stuff hand to hand.
I've got the junk to prove it.
Mikorski really left a cup of coffee down here?
Did he really do that?
That's just rude.
That is just so rude.