Have you bought one of those great looking Rolex/Omega fakes

[Countdown]

InformationSuperHighway said:

Genuine question for the buyers of fakes.

Do you know or indeed care where the money goes after you buy the fake?

I.E it's clearly not going the manufacturer.. it must be going somewhere.

Isn’t it going to the manufacturer of the fakes?

[Presuming Ed]

Seems snobbery is alive and well. If you can afford multiples of genuine Rolex why do you care if someone buys a fake. If you can only afford a Sekonda but can have a mock watch of your dreams then let them. The fake market isn't going to disappear. I've never bought a fake watch but I did get a load of Lacoste Polo Shirts out of pat pong market.

[TTmonkey]

Story in the DM today about a young man followed by a gang who had spotted his £125,000 Patel Phillip watch.

They rob him, steal the watch and stab him, and he dies.

The watch was a fake.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13074663/...

[popeyewhite]

Presuming Ed said:

Seems snobbery is alive and well.

It's not snobbery to buy the real thing you fool.

[trumpton7291]

TTmonkey said:

Story in the DM today about a young man followed by a gang who had spotted his £125,000 Patel Phillip watch.

They rob him, steal the watch and stab him, and he dies.

The watch was a fake.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13074663/...

Saddiq Khan’s London today. Should really restart stop ‘n search…

[Fast and Spurious]

HIAO said:

Both individuals for personal consumption as well as businesses. Import, export or in transit.

It happens at the customs check, rather than the immigration check.

Watches, handbags, clothing. They don’t need horological expertise to have a doubt and be dissatisfied with the responses they are given to obvious questions.

The brand verifies and seeks damages from the unfortunate owner. If the fine exceeds chf 5,000 it’s an automatic criminal record. It’s not unusual for brand appointed law firms to seek damages of chf 10,000+.

https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/en/home/information...

https://www.stop-piracy.ch/en/what-should-you-do/l...

Not just Switzerland. France, Italy and the US take a similar approach.

I don’t work for a luxury goods manufacturer; I have lived in Switzerland for 13 years, and I’d never knowingly touch anything counterfeit.

What a load of rubbish you spout.

[gregs656]

TTmonkey said:

Story in the DM today about a young man followed by a gang who had spotted his £125,000 Patel Phillip watch.

They rob him, steal the watch and stab him, and he dies.

The watch was a fake.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13074663/...

But 'what is the deception?'

gregs656 said:

RSTurboPaul said:

What is the deception?

Counterfeit: a fraudulent imitation of something else; a forgery.

Fraud: a person or thing intended to deceive others

It couldn't be more cut and dry what the deception is.

I think you (and others) justify this because we are talking about watches - but counterfeits of all kind are the same. The potential harm of counterfeit watches ranges from a simple lie, to people being conned out of their money, to being wrongfully targeted for theft or robbery.

[popeyewhite]

TTmonkey said:

Story in the DM today about a young man followed by a gang who had spotted his £125,000 Patel Phillip watch.

They rob him, steal the watch and stab him, and he dies.

The watch was a fake.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13074663/...

That's a tale of our times right there. Very sad.

[Oz83]

The only time I was asked about my Rolex was in a bar in New York, and I told the girl it was a fake.

[carlo996]

popeyewhite said:

Next we'll hear some bonkers attempted justification for having pride in something that is actually an ersatz version of something else. People buy cheap crap because they want the image of the real thing with the lesser financial hit. Anyone who says different doesn't know human nature. Is it wrong? Of course, with a direct copy you're attempting to deceive other people.

Why does anyone have to justify it, do they have to justify a Tudor because they don’t want to stretch to a Rolex, is it ok to wear a Seiko GMT instead, or shall we judge everyone by what we personally find acceptable? Quite why people get so cross about people choosing to buy a homage/copy is beyond me. Life’s too short.

[Oz83]

carlo996 said:

Why does anyone have to justify it, do they have to justify a Tudor because they don’t want to stretch to a Rolex, is it ok to wear a Seiko GMT instead, or shall we judge everyone by what we personally find acceptable? Quite why people get so cross about people choosing to buy a homage/copy is beyond me. Life’s too short.

Because replica watches are trading off the value of somebody else's intellectual property and brand equity. It's theft. plain and simple. Rolex spend hundreds of millions on making the Rolex brand synonymous with success, glamour and luxury. You could argue that Rolex is a marketing company first, and a watch maker second.

For me, it's not about the value of the watch. I buy an original so that I can appreciate the object and to support the guys who originally designed, developed and manufactured it. It's the same with fake furniture. I would never buy a replica Barcelona Chair or Eames Lounge Chair.

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread that they would respect the fakers more if they started their own brand. The trouble is, it's just not that easy to convince someone in the west to part with £400-800 of their hard earned money on a watch made in China from a brand that nobody has heard of, even if the quality is comparable to Rolex (which it usually isn't). Copying is easy. Being different is hard.

[NomduJour]

Oz83 said:

It's the same with fake furniture. I would never buy a replica Barcelona Chair or Eames Lounge Chair

That’s a hazier distinction. Would you buy an Eames chair made by Mobilier, Vitra, ICF or Hille? Only a Bamberg Barcelona, or is Thonet and Knoll okay?

[Barchettaman]

NomduJour said:

That’s a hazier distinction. Would you buy an Eames chair made by Mobilier, Vitra, ICF or Hille? Only a Bamberg Barcelona, or is Thonet and Knoll okay?

Ooh, that’s a good point. I think (having visited the factory and museum) the Vitra chairs from Weil am Rhein are legal reproductions though, made under license. They’re certainly beautifully made (and slightly bigger than the original) although well out of my price bracket!

[Jayho]

Oz83 said:

carlo996 said:

Why does anyone have to justify it, do they have to justify a Tudor because they don’t want to stretch to a Rolex, is it ok to wear a Seiko GMT instead, or shall we judge everyone by what we personally find acceptable? Quite why people get so cross about people choosing to buy a homage/copy is beyond me. Life’s too short.

Because replica watches are trading off the value of somebody else's intellectual property and brand equity. It's theft. plain and simple. Rolex spend hundreds of millions on making the Rolex brand synonymous with success, glamour and luxury. You could argue that Rolex is a marketing company first, and a watch maker second.

For me, it's not about the value of the watch. I buy an original so that I can appreciate the object and to support the guys who originally designed, developed and manufactured it. It's the same with fake furniture. I would never buy a replica Barcelona Chair or Eames Lounge Chair.

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread that they would respect the fakers more if they started their own brand. The trouble is, it's just not that easy to convince someone in the west to part with £400-800 of their hard earned money on a watch made in China from a brand that nobody has heard of, even if the quality is comparable to Rolex (which it usually isn't). Copying is easy. Being different is hard.

I do also find it funny when people say that "there is a massive markup if Rolex are selling something which is 95% of the same watch for a fifth of the price". Other than the marketing which Rolex spends a lot of money on, they are also spending a lot of money on the Swiss rent, watchmakers, designers and technology advancement etc. Fakes don't have to spend any of this. In terms of profit margin, it wouldn't surprise me if the fakes are charging more in % wise compared to the real article.

I had dabbled in homages in the past, always made sure it was one which didn't have any logos etc of the genuine article. Actually really liked and appreciated the Panerai copy I had. But after a while it just felt a bit flat and I was sick of telling people it was a homage and not the genuine thing. After that I started preferring microbrands, Seikos, Orients etc.

Now I have a collection of a few Tudors and a Cartier, I wouldn't even think of homages. Even the cheaper end of the scale, I haven't bought a Seiko / Timex / Orient etc in ages. Even though there are models I like, I know that they wont get the time of day and I'm just delaying my buying of the watch I really want as I'm spending money on ones which feel a bit more "disposable".

After reading through some of this thread last week I did do a bit of research in some high quality fakes. Everything else aside, one thing which stuck out at me is "When I kick the bucket and my relatives go through all my stuff, what would they think of me if they took one of my watches to get appraised and it turned out to be fake."

[Oz83]

NomduJour said:

Oz83 said:

It's the same with fake furniture. I would never buy a replica Barcelona Chair or Eames Lounge Chair

That’s a hazier distinction. Would you buy an Eames chair made by Mobilier, Vitra, ICF or Hille? Only a Bamberg Barcelona, or is Thonet and Knoll okay?

The only difference is that Rolex produces everything in house but if Rolex did have licensed manufacturers that met their standards, I wouldn't have a problem buying one of those.

[mickythefish]

Turkey teeth N hair
Fake Rolex
Fake clothes
Tattoos
Socials account telling everyone how successful you are.
Modern world now.

[BrokenSkunk]

carlo996 said:

Why does anyone have to justify it, do they have to justify a Tudor because they don’t want to stretch to a Rolex, is it ok to wear a Seiko GMT instead, or shall we judge everyone by what we personally find acceptable? Quite why people get so cross about people choosing to buy a homage/copy is beyond me. Life’s too short.

I don't think anyone here is cross that people choose to wear fakes. Asserting that owners of the genuine article are upset by owners of fakes is a means of providing validation that buying fakes is a smart move. The availability of fakes does not diminish the pleasure of owning the real thing. Reading this thread I don't see anyone frothing even mildly at the mouth about it.

It's just a bit pathetic that people would choose to spend their money on a fake, rather than choose something more interesting and, frankly better. Something that's not pretending to be something it isn't. Take a look at the "£200", or the "near misses" threads, there's so much more to the world of watches than a snide Rolex.

But's that's a subjective opinion. If people want to wear a fake, that's up to them. I really don't care.

And yes, full disclosure, I did once buy a fake £20 Tag on a lads holiday to Turkey. I bought it because I liked the design, but lacked the funds to buy the real thing. I was thrilled with it for the three weeks it lasted. I'm not that person any more.

[popeyewhite]

mickythefish said:

Turkey teeth N hair
Fake Rolex
Fake clothes
Tattoos
Socials account telling everyone how successful you are.
Modern world now.

Superficiality reigns, no depth to existence for many. Isn't the internet age great.

[paulw123]

popeyewhite said:

mickythefish said:

Turkey teeth N hair
Fake Rolex
Fake clothes
Tattoos
Socials account telling everyone how successful you are.
Modern world now.

Superficiality reigns, no depth to existence for many. Isn't the internet age great.

Only in certain circles, fortunately ones I don't have to be associated with.

[Presuming Ed]

popeyewhite said:

Presuming Ed said:

Seems snobbery is alive and well.

It's not snobbery to buy the real thing you fool.

Unpleasantry, well done. Where did I say that it’s snobbery to buy a Rolex? I said it was snobbery to look/talk down to those that buy a fake.