 Franck Muller replicas are usually fairly easy to spot: cheap materials, crappy dials, poor case-back engravings. The replica shown in the photos below is a good example of how these flaws can be overcome with customization. It's also a testament to buying your watches from Authorized Dealers (AD). You avoid most of the risk of being taken by high-end custom-made replicas that use genuine parts, sometimes called "frankenwatches".
The watch shown below has a custom made solid gold case, unlike the usual gold plated casing. This makes a huge difference in the appearance (and supposed authenticity). Gold plating never has the same "look" as true solid gold, so in most cases it's fairly easy to spot the plated watches.
Note the ETA movement in this watch and the engraving on the rotor. The ETA stamping gives the movement away as a non-genuine example, but the rest of the decoration on the movement is fairly convincing. The dial looks good and the crown I believe is a genuine FM crown.
The custom-made replicas are more rare (and more expensive) than their mass produced Asian-made cousins. They may use genuine parts in their construction, making them very difficult to spot. As always, I recommend when buying a watch off of the used market to "buy the seller, not the watch". Many times the credibility of the seller can lend great weight to the watch's authenticity.
| Franck Muller Casablanca Frankenwatch |
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Compare to Genuine Franck Muller Casablancas on eBay
Casablanca 
Franck Muller 
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Replica Watch 
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