Even with the innocent-looking ref. 6426, there are variations and details to nerd out on. That’ll happen with a watch that was produced from the late 1950s through the 1970s. Over this time, Swiss made replica Rolex made so many changes: different lume, bracelet styles, and movements. Most noticeably, you’ll see some different words on the 6426’s dial. The “stock” model simply says “Oyster” at 12 o’clock and “Precision” at six o’clock. You’ll also find some early examples that say “Royal” at 12 o’clock – I’ve always thought it was kind of cool that the brand with a crown for a logo would call just one model Royal, and one of its entry-level ones at that.
Of course, you’ll find some reprinted dials on old cheap fake Rolex Oyster Perpetual 6426s, so if you’re evaluating one be sure to compare it to other examples to make sure everything makes sense. Here’s someone asking about a reprinted dial after they bought a 6426 – don’t be that person and ask first.
You’ll see all kinds of dial, hand, and marker combinations on the cheap fake Rolex Oyster Perpetual 6426, especially in the early years. Beautiful gilt black dials complemented by gold hands; creamy white dials with alpha hands that give the watch a slightly dressier look. Later in the 6426’s production run, luxury replica Rolex seemed to standardize around the simple silver dial and baton hands, though you’ll still see examples with linen, sunburst blue, and too many other dial variants to count. I can’t claim that any particular type is rarer or more desirable than any other – it’s mostly a matter of personal taste. Full disclosure, I love late ’50s perfect fake Rolex, so some of the early white dials that have developed a nice, warm patina are my favorite. But hey, I’ve been wearing around a manual-wind ref. 6082 that’s something of a precursor to the ref. 6426, so I might just be talking my book now.
In fact, a favorite vintage aaa quality replica Rolex I’ve seen over the past couple of years (one of those “shoulda bought it” ones) is a simple ref. 6426 with a creamy three-six-nine dial, sold by Archiwatch. It looks like a polar Rolex Commando, another super rare manual-wind Rolex replica for sale. The watch wasn’t expensive – less than your average vintage Submariner, for sure, but way rarer – and more fun – if you ask me. It shows how, even today, there are still weird vintage Swiss movement fake Rolexes waiting to be discovered.
By the way, the cousins of the high quality fake Rolex ref. 6426, the refs. 6694 and 6494, feature a date window. Besides that, they’re pretty similar to the 6426 in every other way.