Fake or Replica Watches

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Mark
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I have been looking into buying a new watch recently, and found a few that I really like, but a far more than I would ever spend on anything I can't drive, or that doesn't have a kitchen (or Image Stabilisation ;))

After hunting for a bargain, I kept noticing websites selling replica watches.
Now, I thought it would be illegal to buy and/or sell fake watches due to copyight laws on the logo and design. Below is a list of some of the sites that come up on a simple google search...

ourreplicawatchesuk.co.uk
replicawatchesdirect.co.uk
replicawatchesswiss.co.uk
bestreplicawatches.org.uk
replicasonline.org.uk

Surely, if selling replica watches was illegal, all of these sites could (and should) be shut down in about 5 minutes? The sites openly say the watches are replicas, one stating they are so accurate 'they can even fool jewlers'.

Now, I have no intention on buying a fake to sell it as real, but I also don't like the idea of spending £2,000+ on a nice watch. These replicas claim to be of decent quality, and some come with a year or so warranty from the web site.
So, would I be in the wrong for purchasing one of these replica watches (the one I'm looking at is about £120.) Do I run any risk of getting in trouble? whats the deal here?

For those interested - this is what I have my eye on :)
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I bought a Rolex one 10 years ago. I was impressed with it when it came. Authentic looking box, etc... Pretty certain someone who knew about watches would see its a fake but was well made and certainly no different to many £100 watches. Probably not as solid or heavy as the real thing but good enough for me.
 
hmmmmm...........

The person you really need to speak to on here is J3well3r...... who trades the genuine ones.

I guess they are not fobbing you as a customer off, as it is quite clear (despite the appalling English) that they are replicas or as I would call them fakes.

Then again, say a £5,000 Rolex.. how much is the cost of materials and manufacture and how much are peoples cuts on the way? those shiny posh shops don't come cheap.

My best guess would be that you as the purchaser are not breaking a law (unless you are intending to purchase and then sell on as a genuine) however they (manufacturers of the watches) are clearly breaking many laws / acts etc...

It's fairly rife with other things as well, such as golf clubs, where quite often in the far east the knock offs, come out of the same factory as the genuines.......... just a tailor made, not taylor made etc...
 
There used to be lots of fakes on sale in the Far East when we lived there, and there probably still are. Some were sold in shops, masquerading as the real thing, and were very convincing unless you knew what to look for, or had a real one to compare it with; others were just cheap knock offs sold in markets and on the street. I knew a few people who quite fancied a solid gold Rolex day/date for $30 US, just to impress their friends until they cottoned on.

A US company that manufacture rather extravagantly priced sunglasses contacted us a few years ago, about copies of their products being sold in South Africa. The real ones went for around R1500 (say £150) then, and the knock offs were being sold for about R50. They also gave us locations where the 'stores' selling these products were located, and asked us to liaise with the police and put a stop to it. It wasn't easy explaining that the 'stores' were actually intersections, and that the SA Police - who aren't very energetic at the best of times - weren't going to go chasing after roadside hawkers flogging cheap sunglasses.
 
I never understand why anyone would knowingly purchase a fake watch (or anything else come to think of it)
 
I never understand why anyone would knowingly purchase a fake watch (or anything else come to think of it)

only a guess, but trying to impress people and to fool them inot thinking they have £5k of watch on their wrist..........
 
Surely anyone impressed by such a watch would know the difference. Also, creating the impression that you can afford to spend a rather large amount of money on a watch but in reality you cannot, seems rather pointless.
 
only a guess, but trying to impress people and to fool them inot thinking they have £5k of watch on their wrist..........

What's the point though. I know some friends that have bought 'cheap' fake watches, the most expensive being £100 ish. They fell apart almost instantly, had cheap movements and were just, well, ****. One of them tapped the watch and one of the hands fell off :LOL: Comedy moment that.

I bought a (genuine) Seiko for £75 and it's been far better than the fakes I've seen friends with. Automatic, pretty much indestructible and it keeps OK time.

Personally I'd avoid fakes, but hey, it's your money ;)
 
What's the point though. I know some friends that have bought 'cheap' fake watches, the most expensive being £100 ish. They fell apart almost instantly, had cheap movements and were just, well, ****. One of them tapped the watch and one of the hands fell off :LOL: Comedy moment that.

I bought a (genuine) Seiko for £75 and it's been far better than the fakes I've seen friends with. Automatic, pretty much indestructible and it keeps OK time.

Personally I'd avoid fakes, but hey, it's your money ;)

indeed, though I cannot see where I have said I want one, or condone the purchase of said items....... :shrug:

I am by no means an expert.... but I will happily bet £20 I could spot the difference between a fake breitling and a genuine one, quite quickly.
 
I had a fake Rolex which actually lasted a couple of years. They may fool people who are only glancing for the first couple of weeks but they quickly look tatty in a way a real Rolex never would.

I got a real one last year and wish I'd got one years ago, it would have saved me a fortune. The inflation on quality watches is crazy...
 
I used to mod on one of the high-end watch fora and we used to get guys from the fake watch forum posting pics of their watches and then getting called on them as without fail they were easy to spot. It was quite funny when they came along with their "I have a watch that looks just like yours but I only paid £100" line as invariably you'd come across them on the fakes forum a few weeks later complaining that their "bargain" had fallen to bits after a few weeks :LOL:
 
Surely anyone impressed by such a watch would know the difference. Also, creating the impression that you can afford to spend a rather large amount of money on a watch but in reality you cannot, seems rather pointless.

I actually really like rolex and cartier but can't afford them. So I either go without or get a fake.
 
Fair enough, but surely there are great looking watches that don't cost a fortune and will last a reasonable amount of time?
Have you ever see one of those lovely MR2 conversions to a Ferrari, badges and all? Now I would love a Ferrari but can't afford one. Would I buy a MR2 converted - absolutely not! Would anyone be fooled?
 
Fair enough, but surely there are great looking watches that don't cost a fortune and will last a reasonable amount of time?
Have you ever see one of those lovely MR2 conversions to a Ferrari, badges and all? Now I would love a Ferrari but can't afford one. Would I buy a MR2 converted - absolutely not! Would anyone be fooled?

Mr2 conversions - i laugh in your face at such quality in taste...........

Hopefully it's been written off now and involved lots of flames and a tree but in Norwich there was a TR7 which was badged up as a TR40 (given late 80's, early 90's I'll let yuo have a guess as to what it was attempting, most feebly to be.)

Crippen's defence lawyer was more convincing.........

This link is not the one, but gives you an idea........ :cautious::shrug::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
Fair enough, but surely there are great looking watches that don't cost a fortune and will last a reasonable amount of time?
Have you ever see one of those lovely MR2 conversions to a Ferrari, badges and all? Now I would love a Ferrari but can't afford one. Would I buy a MR2 converted - absolutely not! Would anyone be fooled?

Have an Armani one, but prefer the look of the fake Cartier etc... Would love a breitling.
 
I never understand why anyone would knowingly purchase a fake watch (or anything else come to think of it)

How about - I really like the design, no other manufacturer makes a similar design, and I don't have £2,000 to spend on the real thing.
For me the name is completely irrelevant, I'd never even heard of Movado. I like the watch, and if I can get one that looks like it, and i can afford it, I'm happy, as long as it works.

Whitefiver said:
Not my bag, but have you looked here?

http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/

Supposed to be a good forum, I believe.

Thanks for this forum link, seems it's possible to get decent quality replica's if you know where to look.
 
How about - I really like the design, no other manufacturer makes a similar design

Rado? You can pick them up secondhand for not much more than your new fake and one of those would have some value when you came to resell it.....
 
I feel my Ipod Nano 6th gen with Watch strap is out of place in this posh watch thread :), although it does tell the time & I have a choice of 20 watch faces :p (oh yeah and it plays MP3s & tracks my running)
 
As a Scot I should probably stab myself in the heart with a rusty spoon for saying it but, buy a Timex. Cheap, lots of designs to choose from, functional and long lasting.
 
Steep said:
As a Scot I should probably stab myself in the heart with a rusty spoon for saying it but, buy a Timex. Cheap, lots of designs to choose from, functional and long lasting.

For the price of the fake I'd rather have either a new Seiko or add a bit more and buy a secondhand "real" watch....
 
A friend of mine bought a fake Rolex once, quite a few years ago. It turned his wrist green!

It was quite amusing when he left it on his desk though, and a collegue told him off for it...
 
My problem is I'm a clutz, any watch I buy I destroy within a year by immersion in water,banging against something,scratching the face,breaking the bracelet.
So about 8 or 9 years ago on holiday at Lake Garda I was sat at a café and this African in flowing robes came up and wanted to sell me a Rolex,to cut a long tale short I got him down to 30 euro .
It's just stopped working,could probably get it fixed but decided to get a Citizen Eko-Drive.
Got it from Argos for £99.95
Very happy with it but, had it 3 months and scratched the bl@@dy face already.:(

PS
And yes ,I do use UV filters :LOL:
 
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The screen protectors you put on phones etc are very good for protecting watch faces. Flat glass is perfect obviously, domed glass is more difficult to fit to but it can be done.
 
Would you buy a knock off camera body? if not why buy a fake watch.
 
Owning the real thing makes you feel so much better.. Imagine when people say to you 'Wow nice watch! Where is it from/how much? (if they are cheeky)'

Would you lie or admit it being fake :shrug:

I know I couldn't pretend to have the real deal..

Not saying you would feel bad, just saying you'd feel much better if it was real (y)
 
Owning the real thing makes you feel so much better.. Imagine when people say to you 'Wow nice watch! Where is it from/how much? (if they are cheeky)'

Would you lie or admit it being fake :shrug:

I know I couldn't pretend to have the real deal..

Not saying you would feel bad, just saying you'd feel much better if it was real (y)

As i said before. I not trying to make out i have lots of money, or that I have a very expensive watch. I dont even know anything about watches, so if the websites didnt have the word Replica in, i wouldnt even know they weren't real.

To be honest, if someone asked, I would happily admit its a fake, i would have no sense of needing to lie about it, the idea of that is tragic. Anyone who will judge me based on me not buying a £2000 watch is no friend of mine.

I know what I like, and in this case, I like what I see, I dont really care who makes it.
 
Owning the real thing makes you feel so much better.. Imagine when people say to you 'Wow nice watch! Where is it from/how much? (if they are cheeky)'

Would you lie or admit it being fake :shrug:

I know I couldn't pretend to have the real deal..

Not saying you would feel bad, just saying you'd feel much better if it was real (y)

Most of the people I know would probably be embarrassed to admit spending hundreds, let alone thousands, of pounds just for a watch. I think they'd be more likely to lie if it was real, and pretend it was a £50 fake.
 
Most of the people I know would probably be embarrassed to admit spending hundreds, let alone thousands, of pounds just for a watch. I think they'd be more likely to lie if it was real, and pretend it was a £50 fake.

:plus1:
 
I must admit, if I had the money to buy a Rolex I'd spend it on something else.
 
MartynK said:
Most of the people I know would probably be embarrassed to admit spending hundreds, let alone thousands, of pounds just for a watch. I think they'd be more likely to lie if it was real, and pretend it was a £50 fake.

I'd be more embarrassed to admit to funding a 20-a-day smoking habit than "wasting" the same amount on a watch ;)
 
I had the need to buy a watch whilst working in Syria some years back, got a fake Rolex for a fiver from the local souk, lasted me six years........:D
 
Moody watches :puke:, but I guess i have a vested interest (y)
 
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