Destiny Soria’s got it right when it comes to fake watches. Her quote epitomizes the exact opposite of what the counterfeit or so-called by some “replica” watch market is doing today.

The World Wide “FAKE” watch market generates $1 billion in revenues. Some 40 million fake Swiss watches are made each year compared with 30 million genuine Swiss watches. Indeed, 20-30% of searches for watches are for fakes! [Source: Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH)]

Today we are in the fourth generation of counterfeit watches from the cheap, easily recognized “Chinese” fakes, to the second generation “Super Fakes,” to the third generation “Ultra Super Fakes,” to watches now “the Super Nova Fakes,” that are even sporting genuine movements but have cases/dials and bracelets that are fake.

When I started teaching “Replica or Real” (formerly Luxury or Lie) understanding the difference between “Super Fakes” and “Ultra Super Fakes” was basically a matter of understanding each manufacturer’s movement. Now we must study case and bracelet engravings, rehaut (the ring between the dial and the bezel/crystal), and LEC (Laser Etched Crowns).

ROLEX has spent millions in developing counterfeit measures, ALL of which have been learned and expertly defeated by the latest counterfeit watch manufacturers. Today’s “fakes” have reached a new level of calculated, deceptive perfection.  However, it has been said that “nothing dispels a lie faster than the truth; nothing exposes the counterfeit faster than the genuine.”

As close as the counterfeiters have gotten, and believe me, they are pretty darn close, they can only give the perception of the genuine article.

Can you tell the “GENUINE” from the “FAKE”?

Therefore, as the counterfeiters get better and better, we must also get smarter and faster. We need to train staff in detection methods. We need to invest in correct 

equipment to speedily check and confirm if the watch is genuine and, just as important, we need to know how to interpret the results and use them to thwart counterfeiters.

Of course, it’s not just Rolex’s that are being heavily faked. All high-end luxury brands, such as Panerai, Omega, and Hublot, to name a few, are being well-targeted by the counterfeiters!