Do you want to buy a watch? Moreover, not just a watch, but a watch that you deserve – that is, not a cheap Chinese fake, but an original brand.
These cost a lot. But there are a lot of fake watches on the market, so we offer some useful tips and useful information that will help you learn to distinguish original watches from fake ones.
Watches – fake and original
On the Internet you can find thousands of sites that tell their readers how to distinguish a fake watch from an original. However, giving some general recommendations when there are many hundreds of thousands of brand models and millions of fakes is not always a useful exercise.
And yet, you should familiarize yourself with some general aspects that you should pay attention to when choosing a watch, so as not to run into a fake. Before we start reviewing them, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- There are many more manufacturers of fakes on the watch market than manufacturers of original watches.
- Manufacturers of counterfeits have become so skilled that sometimes only specialists can distinguish a very high-quality counterfeit from the original.
Indeed, manufacturers of fake watches improve their products, bringing them as close as possible not only in appearance, but also in quality to the original. It is no coincidence that many people prefer copies, given the fact that they are noticeably cheaper than the originals.
Does this mean that the average person has very little chance of distinguishing a fake from an original ? No, if you approach the issue of choice wisely.
Where to start choosing a brand model
No spontaneous purchases! If you are determined to purchase an original from a well-known brand , you need to expand your knowledge about the manufacturers of the original watches, which will allow you to avoid becoming a victim of replica manufacturers.
Decide initially what type of watch you want to purchase. Usually the choice comes down to electronic, electromechanical (usually called quartz, meaning models with hands ) or mechanical watches. Keep in mind that you are less likely to buy a fake among mechanical models, which are usually the most expensive.
The fact is that in the total volume of wristwatches produced, the share of mechanical products is very small – literally just a couple of percent. The reason is obvious – making a mechanical watch is a much longer, more labor-intensive and incomparably more expensive process, which affects the final cost of the product.
Which counterfeits are easier to detect?
The cheaper the fake, the easier it is to identify it – this is understandable. For example, it is very easy to identify cheap fakes of expensive mechanical watches (often the price also gives them away) . Counterfeits of inexpensive brands are usually also easy to identify – it is not profitable for counterfeit manufacturers to make high-quality copies.
All types of watches are counterfeited – quartz, electronic, and mechanical. But the most dangerous and “painful” thing for the buyer are high-quality fakes of expensive watches. Such counterfeits cause enormous damage to the manufacturers themselves, who are primarily interested in helping their customers choose an original product.
So, to avoid being handed a fake, we recommend starting with the simplest and most reliable option – purchasing a watch from a company store. How to understand that a given point of sale offers well-known brands? First, study at least superficially the following question: what brands exist and where they are produced.
Where are watches made?
The countries in which branded watches are produced can be counted, as they say, on the fingers of two hands. Moreover, this is a literal statement, since there are only ten such countries. We are not talking about quality watches in principle – other countries also produce them. We are talking about the most famous brands.
Here is a list of these countries with a list of brands produced in them (it is not complete for all countries):
– Switzerland : Mathey- Tissot, Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Rolex, Omega, Longines, Patek Philippe, Jaguar and many others ( more than a hundred famous brands);
– Japan: Casio, Pulsar, Seiko, Citizen, Lorus, Orient, Grandeux, Appetime, Q&Q;
Germany : Chris Benz, Kronsegler, Mühle-Glashütte, Grieb&Benzinger, Haemmer, Helix, Kienzle, Boccia, Braun, A.Lange&Sohne, Glashütte Original, Bruno Sohnle;
– USA: Guess, Anne Clein, Caterpillar, Diesel, Fossil, Marc Ecko, DKNY, Michael Kors, Nautica, Jennifer Lopez, Tommy Hilfiger, Bulova;
– Italy : Armani, Chronotech, Dolce&Gabbana, Just Cavalli, Miss Sixty, Sisley, Sweet Years, Benetton, Blumarine, Cerruti, Hello Kitty, Morellato, Moschino, Roberto Cavalli;
– Great Britain: Christopher Ward, Bremont, Burberry, Karen Millen, Dalvey, Dunhill, Graham;
– Russia: Slava, Chaika, Flight, Vostok, Rocket, Electronics;
– South Korea: Essence, Romanson, Staccato;
– France: Morgan;
– Denmark: Skagen;
It is no accident that Japan topped the list next to Switzerland. Despite the much smaller number of watch brands produced in Japan, Japanese manufacturers are actively creating trends for the development of the modern market.
This is not to say that other countries play secondary roles in the watch market. These countries also produce very high-quality branded items that have gained enormous popularity in many parts of the world.
By the way, if we talk not about the cost aspect, but about the quantitative aspect, then the world leaders in the export of wristwatches are Hong Kong and China, which are not included in this list. And the lion’s share of exports is fakes!
In Switzerland, there is the following organization – the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. The overwhelming majority of industrialists that are part of this non-profit organization (and there are more than five hundred of them) are represented by representatives of the watch industry of this particular country.
However, it also includes industrialists from Hong Kong, for example. The fact is that not all Swiss watch components are produced in Switzerland. And not all elements of a Swiss watch must be assembled in this country in order for the watch to be eligible to receive the “Swiss Made” label.
About the “Swiss Made” label
Not all Swiss manufacturers apply the “Swiss Made” label to their brands. Some names are so well known that their manufacturers use special markings, which, in their opinion, should be enough to confirm the quality of their products.
Such marking in itself does not, of course, protect the product from counterfeiting. But the buyer should be aware that watches made in Switzerland are those that have been inspected after being assembled in this country and the watch mechanism itself was also installed in Switzerland. In this case, the mechanism must be Swiss.
This in turn means that it was assembled in this country, and 50 percent of all production costs and components are also Swiss. It is quite logical to assume that some elements of Swiss watches were not assembled in this country, but this does not make the product cease to be Swiss.
The conclusion suggests itself is the following: the only way to get maximum information about the desired brand from a particular country is to study all available information about this brand before purchasing.
Watch case material
The above list will give you at least a basic understanding of brands by country (however, given the large number of Swiss brands, you will need more information).
Let’s move on to visual selection and study of the watch case material. Determining from the material whether a watch is original also requires appropriate knowledge.
Here is a list of the main materials that can be used to make watch cases from famous brands (from the cheapest to the most expensive): plastic, alloy (an alloy of aluminum and zinc), brass, steel, titanium, silver, gold, platinum and other more exotic materials.
Does Switzerland make watches out of plastic?
The simplest material used to make branded watches is plastic. Contrary to popular belief, plastic is used not only by the Japanese to produce the Casio or Citizen brands, but also, for example, by Swiss manufacturers.
The plastic used for branded watches is of very high quality. Of course, manufacturers of counterfeits are also skilled in using high-quality materials, but not all of them. A fake made of polymer can be given off by a fairly strong specific smell of plastic or poor quality assembly.
If, upon careful examination of the material of watch cases, you find some roughness or protrusions that are clearly not design elements, it is better to refuse to purchase such a product, as it may be a fake. This applies to all materials, including steel.
Stainless steel watch
By the way, the most popular grade of steel used for the manufacture of branded watches is the so-called watch stainless steel marked 316L. The marking on the case “All stainless steel” indicates that all elements of the watch are made of stainless steel.
If the seller assures that this is so, and the marking on the watch says the following – “Stainless steel back”, this may mean that they are selling you a fake (or the seller is incompetent). The “Stainless steel back” marking indicates that only the back cover of the watch is made of stainless steel.
By the way, the too light weight of a “steel” watch should also alert you. Keep in mind that the characteristics attached to the branded watch indicate the materials from which the corresponding product is made.
Price for watches
If someone is looking for the cheapest watch, the circle of interest of such a person usually narrows down to Chinese products, the average export price for which is around two dollars a piece. The average export price of watches produced in Hong Kong usually does not exceed $10.
But the average export price of Swiss watches fluctuates around five hundred dollars per item. At the same time, the price of some piece items may not have an upper limit at all! Of course, watches made domestically or, for example, from the USA are cheaper. There are also more affordable original Swiss watches.
Replicas of watches on the Internet
Photos of original products are posted on fraudulent websites or social networks. However, a counterfeit product is delivered to the customer. It will be extremely difficult to prove anything to anyone later – after all, no one knew about your intention to buy the original brand, and not just such a fake.
Among other things, such sales are usually carried out from the pages of so-called fly-by-night sites, so all ends, as they say, go “in the water.” What makes people go to such sites? Usually troubles occur due to a lower price than the officially recommended one.