Fake watches, are they legal?

Fake watches, are they legal?

Author
Discussion

spicy

246 posts

235 months

Sunday 3rd October 2004
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I have a genuine Tag Link Diamond watch with mother of pearl face. On the bezel the numbers are engraved (no white) the only white mark is at the zero position and this glows in the dark.

munky

5,328 posts

247 months

Sunday 3rd October 2004
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ColumN said:


This must be right, the £100 watch buyer is not pondering over whether to spend £3,000 on a real Breitling. Let's not forget that the cost of a Tag or Breitlings etc. is far, far above the real maufacturing cost. The price is artificially maintained high by restricting sales outlets and very flash marketing campaigns.

There is the comparability issue as well. A 'fake' Ferrrai does not drive as well as a real Ferrari. A fake Rolex tells the time equally as well as a real one. So who's the real mug, the bloke who's spent £100 on an indistingusiable copy which tells the time perfectly and he won't fret if it gets lost/knocked/ nicked, or the one whose spent £3,000 on the 'real thing'?



Haven't you read any of the posts on here? About the fakes that DON'T tell the time? losing 25 mins a day or only being right 4 times a day? So who's the mug - someone who buys a fake pretending to have something they haven't, which doesn't tell the time, or someone who spends the same on a sekonda, seiko or a citizen which will definitely be accurate and isn't pretending anything? Buying a fake does say something about you, like all those secretaries that have fake Louis Vuitton handbags. (I'll get my coat..)
I bought a real, duty free Breitling in Dubai and I'm happy as Larry, wearing it every day knowing that it's a piece of engineering genuis. I also know that although it's a certified chronograph it is self winding and thus isn't quite as accurate as a quartz but I don't care, it gains maybe a minute every 3 months when the stopwatch is running (a bit more if it isn't) so I just adjust it whenever I go to a different time zone, i.e. a few times a year.
plus when we go in/out of summer time. It does of course get scratched, knocked etc. and I simply don't care, a watch is for wearing even if it does spend most of its time hidden under a shirt cuff.

And how waterproof are the fakes? If one wants to risk buying something useless, by all means they should, it may turn out to be fine. Or it may turn out to be a £100 pile of crap. Either way it's still nowhere near as sad as a fake Ferrari!

darreni

3,759 posts

269 months

Sunday 3rd October 2004
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I have a real 300m Omega Seamaster professional, bought 5 yrs ago. It does lose time, the bracelet has had several repairs & the service from omega is poor for turnaround times & costs almost as much as a car to get serviced.
I still love it.
But, i am looking at getting a knockabout watch & will likely get a good fake. Some mates have bought various rolex & tag copies, & the quality is now superb, really really nice.
I don't see a problem, pays yer money etc.....

loulou

2 posts

233 months

Tuesday 5th October 2004
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spicy said:
I have a genuine Tag Link Diamond watch with mother of pearl face. On the bezel the numbers are engraved (no white) the only white mark is at the zero position and this glows in the dark.


Thats what mine is like....the only part that glows in dark is the hands and the spot at the zero, but unlike yours the bezel numbers that are engraved still have little bits of white in them. Does anyone know if all the engraved numbers are supposed to glow in the dark. I think you are correct from previous posts in that it is preowned as watch is heavy, but haven't hit it against a wall, lol!

J_S_G

6,177 posts

249 months

Tuesday 5th October 2004
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munky said:

Haven't you read any of the posts on here? About the fakes that DON'T tell the time? losing 25 mins a day or only being right 4 times a day? So who's the mug - someone who buys a fake pretending to have something they haven't, which doesn't tell the time, or someone who spends the same on a sekonda, seiko or a citizen which will definitely be accurate and isn't pretending anything? Buying a fake does say something about you, like all those secretaries that have fake Louis Vuitton handbags. (I'll get my coat..)
I bought a real, duty free Breitling in Dubai and I'm happy as Larry, wearing it every day knowing that it's a piece of engineering genuis. I also know that although it's a certified chronograph it is self winding and thus isn't quite as accurate as a quartz but I don't care, it gains maybe a minute every 3 months when the stopwatch is running (a bit more if it isn't) so I just adjust it whenever I go to a different time zone, i.e. a few times a year.
plus when we go in/out of summer time. It does of course get scratched, knocked etc. and I simply don't care, a watch is for wearing even if it does spend most of its time hidden under a shirt cuff.

And how waterproof are the fakes? If one wants to risk buying something useless, by all means they should, it may turn out to be fine. Or it may turn out to be a £100 pile of crap. Either way it's still nowhere near as sad as a fake Ferrari!

I've got a bit of a watch habit... there's a real Breitling Hercules on my watch tree upstairs. And a replica one on my wrist at the moment. Genuine one was £2k give or take, and the replica was £30 in Morocco. It keeps time FAR better than the original (Breitlings really are shocking for that), weighs the right amount, is a proper automatic, and I can happily go swimming in it. Only differences are:
1. It looks better, 'cos it's impossible to get hold of a real one with gold detailing
2. The glass isn't proper sapphire stuff, so you get a bit of glare at certain angles
3. I was more than happy to have the fake on my wrist all the way through Eurohoon, with no fear of smashing it, scratching it, or losing it in late night alcofuel frenzies

Should get the real Daytona in the next couple of weeks, now... will be interesting to see if I prefer that to the copy or not! From now on I'll always own the fake for a month before getting the real one to see if it suits me - some of the replicas really are indistinguishable now; using the exact same 3rd party internal mechanisms as the originals, etc.

I'd definitely feel a cheapskate not owning the originals, but knowing that only watch getting an absolute battering when gardening, working on the car, or climbing up rockfaces is worth no more than an entry level casio is quite a nice feeling.

r1-locost

43 posts

241 months

Wednesday 6th October 2004
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So with me not being an international jet setter where are you getting these fake watches from?

Marki

15,763 posts

269 months

Wednesday 6th October 2004
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J_S_G said:

some of the replicas really are indistinguishable now; using the exact same 3rd party internal mechanisms as the originals, etc.




any (expensive) watch worth having is a mechanical self winder not some quartz thing

muley

1,453 posts

280 months

Wednesday 6th October 2004
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I am not sure if they a technically legal. My funny story is that I bought an extremely dodgy Rolex Datejust from a side street in Korea as a laugh – it cost a tenner and the glass could be pressed in(!), but it did work after a fashion - when the battery ran out I took it to a jeweller and they said it was the crappiest watch they had ever seen, so I told them to sling it in the rubbish.
Anyway, while it was working I wore it to work and a young lady I worked with said ‘Wow, what a great watch! Where did you get it? Do you mind saying how much it cost?’ I replied (having a giraffe) ‘Well, I can’t really say as my family clubbed together to buy it for me as a fiftieth birthday present, but I do know that they can cost over 2,000 pounds’. She said she thought that was a brilliant gift for a 50th.
Well, fop me, if she didn’t talk her family into buying a GENUINE Rolex for her Dad on HIS fiftieth – I’m not sure how much it cost but it needed two extra links which cost USD300 EACH!!
I’ve never let on.

raceboy

13,082 posts

279 months

Wednesday 6th October 2004
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J_S_G said:

Should get the real Daytona in the next couple of weeks, now...

They are worth the wait
if I stop spending money on pointless shiney trinkets maybe I'll be able to afford a new bike/car sometime in the distant future

j_s_g

6,177 posts

249 months

Wednesday 6th October 2004
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Marki said:

J_S_G said:

some of the replicas really are indistinguishable now; using the exact same 3rd party internal mechanisms as the originals, etc.

any (expensive) watch worth having is a mechanical self winder not some quartz thing

Even the £30 Breitling has a self winding mechanism... it's just a cheapo Japanese one. The decent Swiss replicas (i.e. not the ones you pick up from the beach-seller on your hols) use the exact same 25-jewel ETA internals as any other quality self-winder.

skid

649 posts

256 months

Wednesday 6th October 2004
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unrepentant said:

Mmm.......... You're the one in a million then.


I don't think he is. Using the example of the Monaco, such a big, 'fashionable for the moment as a certain generation goes through the Steve McQueen Nostalgia trip', blue watch for £2.2k could be a big unfashionable crass mistake in a few years time. Not what you want when you spend that sort of money.

So why not £120+ (which isn't cheap) for a replica for a trial run. If you really love it and can live with it, then why not buy the original? You've still got a cool watch to do the gardening with!

Mark

column

61 posts

240 months

Friday 22nd October 2004
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In response to our rather intemperate friend above, aren't these sorts of watches really jewellery, rather than timepieces? If a £4,000 Breitling keeps time less well than a £20 Seiko (and I don't know 'cos I've never had a £4k Breitling) what's the problem with a replica Breitling, for example? I'd challenge anyone to notice the difference between my replica/faux 'Breitling for Bentley' and one costing £3,900 more - and I've held the real thing in Goldsmiths jewellers on Fleet St. Fact is, I like the look of the watch, but I won't spend £4k on a real one. So as long as it tells the time, I'm happy to keep the balance in my pocket.