The Europe Customs Service estimates between 30 to 40 million counterfeit and look-alike watches are put into circulation annually. These counterfeit watches cause considerable damage to the watch industry, both financially due to potential lost sales and also brand Swiss Replica Rolex Watches as a result of the market being flooded with counterfeit copies of the original watches.
The annual trade show of the watch industry known as BaselWorld attracts many attendees from China who spend their time shooting the latest models being displayed by the top luxury watch-making brands. The photos of these new and prototype watches then find their which were found to manufacturers in China where they are quickly cloned and made into look-alike watches. The counterfeit pieces are then in a hurry to market, often before the Replica Rolex Watches.
It is estimated by Europe Customs that 40% of look-alike watches Swiss Replica Watches in China, although counterfeits are also manufactured elsewhere, including the united states. In November of 2006 police in Florida caught a girl who had previously been operating a counterfeit watch business that earned about $8 million in sales. It's estimated that counterfeit watch sales worldwide cost Europe watch manufacturers more than $600 million each and every year in lost sales. Once these counterfeit watches have been confiscated, it is the obligation of the Europe Customs Service to destroy them. Surprisingly, in Swiss individuals are allowed to keep just around one counterfeit watch per person, provided they personally importance it into the country. In addition, the watch being imported cannot include any cast precious-metal hallmarks.
Two Types of Counterfeit Watches
Counterfeit watches are divided into two groups:
The first group is composed of low-priced imitations of watches. A cheap counterfeit watch features the name of a prestigious brand, but lacks its design and functions.
The second group involves counterfeit watches designed to appear like the original authentic watch (a trade-dress violation). Some high-priced counterfeit watches are made out of better quality materials and have golden parts and leather tie.
Replica Watches
Significant popular counterfeited watch models are the Swiss Replica Omega Watches : which are illegally manufactured replicas of authentic Rolex watches. As with many of the expensive brand-name luxury watches on the market, Rolex watches can frequently be found being counterfeited and sold illegally on the internet and the street. The counterfeit Rolex watches are mostly stated in countries offering Taiwan, Korea, Of india and China (statistics from 2004 show that 54% of counterfeits seized originated in China) and can be found going for as little as $5 and - $1, 000 or more for high-end replicas fabricated in gold, although the majority of counterfeit Rolexes use gold electroplating. The trade in look-alike Rolex watches has become sophisticated, complete with full-color slick brochures and mags of counterfeited watches stated in China and offered for sale to retail vendors.
Characteristics of a Counterfeit Watch
You often hear that you can tell a counterfeit watch from a genuine one by the smooth movement of the second-hand. This is a fable, due to the fact that many counterfeit watches use inexpensive quartz gem search engines which produce the telltale start/stop movement visible once per second of the mop. If you observe closely you will see that even a genuine Rolex movement does not have a perfectly smooth second-hand mop, but actually eight movements per second. The only watch accessories that had a second-hand with a true, uninterrupted mop were the Seiko Spring-Drive and the Bulova tuning-fork movement. That being said, some of the better counterfeit watches on the market have automatic movements, and Rolex has produced a few models with quartz Replica Baume & Mercier Watches produces the distinct quartz movement ticks.
