Short answer
The number 704.035 in a replica listing points at the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone, the white-metal version with the city ring and the two day/night discs. There is no super-clone of this watch. Nobody has reverse-engineered Lange's L031.1 movement, so every "fake 704.035" you see runs on an Asian automatic or a decorated module with cosmetic add-ons bolted on. You are buying the dial and the case shape, not the mechanics. Price it that way and you will not be disappointed.
What the genuine watch looks like
You cannot judge a replica without a clear picture of the real thing, so here is the layout in plain terms. The Lange 1 Time Zone has an offset main dial at the left with hours, minutes and small seconds, an outsize date at the upper right, and a smaller second-zone dial at the lower right surrounded by a rotating city ring. Two small day/night apertures show whether it is day or night at home and at the destination. A pusher on the case flank steps the zone hand and the city ring forward one hour at a time.
The case is white gold, roughly 42 mm across and about 11 mm thick, with sapphire on both sides. The movement is hand-wound with a 72-hour power reserve, a Glashütte three-quarter plate, heat-blued screws, and a balance cock that a human being engraved by hand with floral scrollwork. That last detail matters more than anything else when you are staring at photos of a copy.
The tells I look for first
- Balance cock engraving. Real ones are cut by hand, so no two are identical and the lines vary in depth. Reps are stamped or laser-etched: shallow, repetitive, and identical from watch to watch.
- The outsize date. On the real watch both discs snap over at midnight and the numerals sit perfectly centered in the aperture. On copies one disc lags, the font is too heavy, and the window edges look rough.
- Movement finish. Look for parallel Glashütte ribbing. Most fakes show circular graining instead, and the "blued" screws are painted, not heat-treated.
- City ring. Spelling errors, uneven spacing, and cities in the wrong order are common. Read a few names out loud before you buy.
- Thickness and weight. A module stacked on top of an automatic movement adds bulk. Copies usually run a millimeter or two thicker, and steel never feels like white gold.
- The pusher. On cheap versions it does nothing, or it jumps the ring two hours at a time.
- Crystal tint. Genuine anti-reflective coating is nearly invisible. Blue or purple flare under shop lights is a giveaway.
Price tiers, honestly described
- Under $150. Quartz, wrong subdial positions, painted dial text, mineral glass. It reads as a Lange from across a room and nowhere else.
- $200 to $350. Asian automatic, closer layout, better dial printing, sometimes sapphire. The date often does not align, and the second zone is usually decorative.
- $400 to $700. The tier sellers call first copy. Case proportions are close, dial print is sharp, and gold plating holds up for a while. The movement is still the giveaway, and it will be the giveaway to anyone who knows the watch.
Practical things buyers forget
Water resistance claims on replicas are marketing, not engineering. Do not swim with one. Servicing is a problem too, because parts for the movement were never meant to be ordered or replaced, so a watchmaker will either refuse the job or charge you more than the watch cost. The second time zone on cheaper tiers often is not independent of the main time, which defeats the whole point of the complication.
One more thing worth saying out loud: in the United States, counterfeit goods are subject to seizure at the border and importing them is illegal, even in small quantities. Selling one as genuine is a separate and much worse problem. Keep those facts in mind before you send money, and never let a copy leave your house described as the real thing.