Counterfeit

"Low quality counterfeiting"

Fake watches that are very easily recognisable as such. Timepieces produced in Asia for 2 to 3 dollars and sold for between 20 and 50 dollars. The profit margins for all types of counterfeiting are huge and counterfeiters aim for efficiency, never quality.

"High-quality counterfeiting" 

This phenomenon emerged in the 1980s and involves watches produced with expensive materials - gold in particular - and fitted very often with worthless quartz movements. Long established in Turkey, Italy and Belgium, this trade has a direct and proven link with organised crime which recycles its gold in watch cases and bracelets. In 2001, a major raid by the Italian police led to the arrest of just under 100 people and to the discovery of some 40,000 counterfeit watches, machinery, hundreds of thousands of euros, and kilos of gold. This operation will no doubt have dealt a serious blow to counterfeiters in Italy. The movements had mainly been produced and assembled in Switzerland before being illegally exported to Italy. Watches of this kind usually fetch between 800 and 1,500 dollars a piece. 

"Similar finish counterfeiting" 

This trend emerged in the late 1990s and is similar in certain respects to the first two types of counterfeiting. However, the most notable feature of these watches is that their external finish is so meticulously crafted that it is difficult to spot a genuine from a fake without opening up the piece. The inside, on the contrary, houses a Chinese-made automatic movement costing 1 dollar. These "similar finishes" are usually fitted in China - sometimes by the same firms who produce components for Swiss brands - and reportedly account for more than one half of all forgeries. The watches are produced for 10 or 50 dollars and normally cheaper than "high-quality counterfeit" ones, selling for between 200 and 1,200 dollars. 

"Counterfeiting of collectors' items" 

This phenomenon is the most recent and the rarest. The principle is to buy a genuine watch and dismantle it so that four fake watches can be made from it: one with the original movement, one with the casing, one with the bracelet and, finally, a fourth one with the dial. The added components are sometimes artificially aged. These operations require an extremely well-qualified workforce and high-level tooling. The resultant watches sell for several thousands to several tens of thousands of francs. Needless to say, the large sums invested in the venture yield fabulous profits. 

Although counterfeiting has been around since ancient times, it has become a dominant feature of the modern age. The value of products is much more heavily reliant than in the past on intellectual content (brand image, design, technical innovation), which in turn is easier to steal than material objects and often more attractive to criminals. Watches are a popular target of this modern form of criminality.

Counterfeiters tend to focus on the appearance rather than the technical parts of a watch for quicker profits. There are generally several criminal aspects to counterfeit watches: unlawful reproduction of a trademark, false designation of origin, copy of a design, all of which are combined with falsified seals and false descriptions ("chronometer", for instance). 

Tourists are the favourite targets of counterfeiters. Moreover, non-direct sales methods (newspapers, television and now the Internet) are increasingly being exploited by counterfeiters. As often as they can, sellers of forgeries pass them off as the genuine article in order to procure the highest price for them.

Consumers who knowingly purchase a forgery may be driven by curiosity, snobbery or (assumed) self-interest. In reality, and without exception, they are getting a very poor deal and are exposing themselves to a number of disappointments:

- they are paying too much for a worthless product;

- they have no warranty or after-sales service;

- they are exposing their health to risks from products that do not comply with quality standards (protection against allergies, radioactivity of certain substances etc.);

- they might be questioned by customs authorities during border controls, their watch could be seized and they might well be fined.

The purchase of forgeries helps drive the black economy, which resorts to repugnant methods such as the exploitation of child labour and destroys law-abiding companies, thus creating unemployment.

To protect consumers and to preserve a healthy industry, it is vital that we put a stop to counterfeiters and their accomplices. This battle is being waged by specialist services set up within the watch companies directly harmed by these practices and within the FH, which has branches around the world. For their part, the authorities have come to recognise that counterfeiting is a major scourge which needs to be addressed by a powerful arsenal of tools. Strict laws are coming into force and customs authorities everywhere are stepping up surveillance.

Advice

Only buy a brand watch at one of the brand's official retailers and never be tempted by a "bargain" offered on a street corner, a beach, in a second-rate shop or in leaflets enticing you with claims that are too good to be true. 

Do not forget that you must exercise discernment when using modern communication media (television, the Internet). Yielding to a tempting offer from a dubious source may lead to bitter disappointment. 

And, of course, never knowingly or willingly purchase a fake, as this is both risky and irresponsible.