The Truth About Replica Watches
5/30/2013 @ 9:26AM |356,668 views
- Ariel Adams, Contributor
Why Are Fake Watches Illegal?
It is true that many people don’t quite know why fake watches are illegal, or that they are illegal. The problem with the FHH’s campaign of “Fake Watches Are For Fake People” is that the message totally skews what is wrong with fake watches. Fake watches are a poor purchase decision because they are unlawful and because they are usually crap.
Watch makers surprisingly don’t have copyright protection on the design of their watches. I am not going to get into a long intellectual property discussion, but the issue is that while designs are something you can protect, things that are “functional” need to be protected under patent law, not copyright. Patents filed long ago have since expired, or there is so much copying going on between brands, that nothing is “original” any longer. What brands can protect however is their name and logo. Those fall under trademark protection and cannot be copied legally. So what fakes are actually doing is illegally copying a name and logo, as well as other trademarked elements that are designed to tell people who made the watch.
The number of elements on any given watch that can be copied legally is surprisingly numerous. This is why even legitimate brands end up “flattering” each other by borrowing design elements all the time.
Replica Versus Homage
There is a legal version of a replica watch and it is called an “homage.” A number of small internet communities and forums are dedicated to producing, reviewing, and discussing homage watches. These are timepieces produced to be as similar as possible to often historic watches, but the protected names and logos are not reproduced. Some collectors love these, while others have ethical problems with them as they can feel too close to a fake. However, they are perfectly legal. Common brands that have “homages” produced in their honor are Rolex and Panerai, and vintage dive, military, and aviation watches are those which are most commonly ‘homaged.’ The good thing about homage watches is that they are usually produced with a much higher quality than fakes. This is because they aren’t trying to be a low-cost alternative to the real thing, they are trying to be a modern version of something too difficult or no longer possible to get.
How Common Are Fakes?
Many consumers not familiar with watches often fear that they will end up purchasing a replica watch without knowing it. How likely are you to get a fake watch when you aren’t looking for one specifically? Well first of all there are numerous places online that sell fake watches. Most of these sites are from Asia (where fake watches are made) and are pretty clear about the fact that they sell replica watches. The fact is that most people who sell fakes – no matter how shady they may appear – are very open with the fact that their goods are fake. Why? Because they are catering to people looking for fakes.
Fake watches are not difficult to find if you are looking for them. More and more search engines are being pressured to remove or reduce the relevancy of websites that offer fake watches in favor of legitimate retailers. I’ve also personally seen a welcome reduction in the amount of spam e-mail I’ve received trying sell me fake watches (which again were clearly labeled as such). The larger concern again is not the sheer availability of fakes, but rather the unknowing consumer accidentally buying one.
eBay in the past was littered with fake watches, but that is no longer the case. There are probably fake watches masquerading as the real thing in eBay’s auction listings from time to time, but they are less common than they used to be. Above I mentioned that in virtually all instances you won’t find fake watches sold via legitimate watch retailers. Pretty much the only chance you have of accidentally buying a fake watch these days is via a transaction with some private seller who claim “not to know whether a watch is real or not.” That usually means it is fake. So yes, caveat emptor is still a good policy, but fakes are mostly on the wrists of people who know they are wearing fakes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/arieladams/2013/05/30/the-truth-about-replica-watches/
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For more info on how old clock and watch making goes [this guy made some of his earliest clocks out of frickin WOOD, gears and all!] :
John Harrison (3 April [O.S. 24 March] 1693– 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought after device for solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long-distance sea travel in the Age of Sail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison
- Gentledawn-----------
5/30/2013 @ 9:26AM |356,668 views
- Ariel Adams, Contributor
Why Are Fake Watches Illegal?
It is true that many people don’t quite know why fake watches are illegal, or that they are illegal. The problem with the FHH’s campaign of “Fake Watches Are For Fake People” is that the message totally skews what is wrong with fake watches. Fake watches are a poor purchase decision because they are unlawful and because they are usually crap.
Watch makers surprisingly don’t have copyright protection on the design of their watches. I am not going to get into a long intellectual property discussion, but the issue is that while designs are something you can protect, things that are “functional” need to be protected under patent law, not copyright. Patents filed long ago have since expired, or there is so much copying going on between brands, that nothing is “original” any longer. What brands can protect however is their name and logo. Those fall under trademark protection and cannot be copied legally. So what fakes are actually doing is illegally copying a name and logo, as well as other trademarked elements that are designed to tell people who made the watch.
The number of elements on any given watch that can be copied legally is surprisingly numerous. This is why even legitimate brands end up “flattering” each other by borrowing design elements all the time.
Replica Versus Homage
There is a legal version of a replica watch and it is called an “homage.” A number of small internet communities and forums are dedicated to producing, reviewing, and discussing homage watches. These are timepieces produced to be as similar as possible to often historic watches, but the protected names and logos are not reproduced. Some collectors love these, while others have ethical problems with them as they can feel too close to a fake. However, they are perfectly legal. Common brands that have “homages” produced in their honor are Rolex and Panerai, and vintage dive, military, and aviation watches are those which are most commonly ‘homaged.’ The good thing about homage watches is that they are usually produced with a much higher quality than fakes. This is because they aren’t trying to be a low-cost alternative to the real thing, they are trying to be a modern version of something too difficult or no longer possible to get.
How Common Are Fakes?
Many consumers not familiar with watches often fear that they will end up purchasing a replica watch without knowing it. How likely are you to get a fake watch when you aren’t looking for one specifically? Well first of all there are numerous places online that sell fake watches. Most of these sites are from Asia (where fake watches are made) and are pretty clear about the fact that they sell replica watches. The fact is that most people who sell fakes – no matter how shady they may appear – are very open with the fact that their goods are fake. Why? Because they are catering to people looking for fakes.
Fake watches are not difficult to find if you are looking for them. More and more search engines are being pressured to remove or reduce the relevancy of websites that offer fake watches in favor of legitimate retailers. I’ve also personally seen a welcome reduction in the amount of spam e-mail I’ve received trying sell me fake watches (which again were clearly labeled as such). The larger concern again is not the sheer availability of fakes, but rather the unknowing consumer accidentally buying one.
eBay in the past was littered with fake watches, but that is no longer the case. There are probably fake watches masquerading as the real thing in eBay’s auction listings from time to time, but they are less common than they used to be. Above I mentioned that in virtually all instances you won’t find fake watches sold via legitimate watch retailers. Pretty much the only chance you have of accidentally buying a fake watch these days is via a transaction with some private seller who claim “not to know whether a watch is real or not.” That usually means it is fake. So yes, caveat emptor is still a good policy, but fakes are mostly on the wrists of people who know they are wearing fakes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/arieladams/2013/05/30/the-truth-about-replica-watches/
----------
For more info on how old clock and watch making goes [this guy made some of his earliest clocks out of frickin WOOD, gears and all!] :
John Harrison (3 April [O.S. 24 March] 1693– 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought after device for solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long-distance sea travel in the Age of Sail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison
- Gentledawn-----------
