Hey the WSJ is publishing a public service piece on fake watches

[narikaa 129]

Steel seems cheap and plentiful. Why would they use these other materials? Anyone enlighten me?

 

As they are all more expensive it's a crock of nonsense

If you ever find a Chinese producer spending $0.00001 more than he can get away with, you'll be able to catch sleeping weasels.

 

 

 

 

Fuck. I was going to go Scuba diving while licking my watch.

 

 

Think of the fishes

 

 

Nowadays it is little known that from the middle of the XVIIIth century up to 1860 Switzerland came to dominating watchmaking - by producing counterfeits: "Using the établissage system, the Swiss turned out far more timepieces than their European counterparts, who had yet to grow beyond a cottage industry. According to Mr. Christianson, England and Switzerland each produced 200,000 timepieces in 1800; by 1850, the Swiss were churning out 2,200,000 watches while the Brits saw virtually no increase. Quantity, however, did not imply quality.

“The Swiss were able to produce ‘fake watches’ that looked like English or French watches but were of lower quality,” he said." Hamilton, Breguet and others were copied in the tens of thousands: "The increasing dominance of American-made pocket watches threatened the Swiss, who tried to get the upper hand in the years between 1860 and 1880 by flooding the American market with cheap watches. “But they were junk,” Mr. Christianson said.

 

 

 

 

At the turn of the 20th century, the Swiss refined their strategy. “They started to produce a good quality watch at a mid-range price,” Mr. Christianson said. “That went on through World War I.” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/st...tchmaking.html

 

It´s all about which side of the glasshouse You´re throwing the stones

 

 

 

Makes me mindful of a something told me decades ago but still sticks in my mind:

"The British went to war over opium, I move a couple of tonnes & I'M THE BASTARD"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[BigBuys 0]

My whole collection has to go! No idea about the mercury. Maybe that is why my dick has a slower response to flashing these days? Ten years of mercury poisoning would kill lesser guys!

[RepGuy 108]

My whole collection has to go! No idea about the mercury. Maybe that is why my dick has a slower response to flashing these days? Ten years of mercury poisoning would kill lesser guys!

 

There's a pill for that

[Rokerite 2,441]

Can't agree about the reseach and development thing. The beauty of the Rolex submariner, or the Lacoste polo shirt, or the Burberry house check for that matter, is that they do not really change. They may evolve gradually over time but they are iconic, classic and if dramatically changed constantly would lose that classic status. Rolex is plastered all over Wimbledon, that's where the money goes as another poster said...

[mysterio 18]

The fuck. Some chocolates actually have more lead and cadmium than what they allege fake watches have.

 

http://abc7ny.com/health/watchdog-group-finds-lead-cadmium-found-in-chocolate/514631/

 

No hard facts. All allegations and pure FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt).

[Cleebeauregard 2]

I believe you can all but walk across the Mediterranean with the surfeit of dead rep wearing scuba divers and drowned refugees

 

HaHa– thanks, I needed that laugh!

[GenTLe 1,496]

It is highly hypocritical of Rolex et al to condemn replica watches in this manner. Their watches whilst being undoubtedly beautiful pieces of design are not worth the exorbitant prices they charge. They set an unnaturaly high mrp so as to make the watches "exclusive" and only available to those with the disposable income to spend £10k on a timepiece. If these Chinese people can produce a watch that is practically indistinguishable from their product for 5% of the price that tells you how overpriced their products are in my humble opinion

 

You have to take into account their research and development costs. They may spend tens of millions of dollars to develop a new case or movement, and some of those costsvget passed down to the consumer.

The rep factory then only needs to measure and replicate this already created design, which is far cheaper due to the lack of research costs. These major brands also have legal departments, HR, Marketing, ect. while rep factories only hire workers to build and fabricate the watches as quickly as possible before the next raid.

Don't get me wrong, I love my reps, but you have to be realistic about why they are so much cheaper.

 

While this is true, if you compare the price of one of these watches to the price of, for instance, a car, you see that what he's saying is not false. A car producer has incredible costs for the manufacturing plants, the hundreds (or thousands) of employees, marketing, develop, HR etc, and a car is indubitably more complex than a watch...

[RUSH2112 11]

It is highly hypocritical of Rolex et al to condemn replica watches in this manner. Their watches whilst being undoubtedly beautiful pieces of design are not worth the exorbitant prices they charge. They set an unnaturaly high mrp so as to make the watches "exclusive" and only available to those with the disposable income to spend £10k on a timepiece. If these Chinese people can produce a watch that is practically indistinguishable from their product for 5% of the price that tells you how overpriced their products are in my humble opinion

 

You have to take into account their research and development costs. They may spend tens of millions of dollars to develop a new case or movement, and some of those costsvget passed down to the consumer.

The rep factory then only needs to measure and replicate this already created design, which is far cheaper due to the lack of research costs. These major brands also have legal departments, HR, Marketing, ect. while rep factories only hire workers to build and fabricate the watches as quickly as possible before the next raid.

Don't get me wrong, I love my reps, but you have to be realistic about why they are so much cheaper.

 

While this is true, if you compare the price of one of these watches to the price of, for instance, a car, you see that what he's saying is not false. A car producer has incredible costs for the manufacturing plants, the hundreds (or thousands) of employees, marketing, develop, HR etc, and a car is indubitably more complex than a watch...

I haven't seen any replicas of $50,000 cars for $300 with the main difference being a copy of the drivetrain instead of the original brand so I think there is still a huge difference in the percent being spent on ads and endorsements between the two.

[GenTLe 1,496]

I haven't seen any replicas of $50,000 cars for $300 with the main difference being a copy of the drivetrain instead of the original brand so I think there is still a huge difference in the percent being spent on ads and endorsements between the two.

 

In part yes, but a car is a registered object, so it can't smuggle in a country and being used like a watch ;)

 

But they tried. At least with something smaller. Here a pic of the EICMA 2013 (the biggest motorcycle exposition in Italy) during Finance police checks in some Chinese stand:

 

 

DO you notice some similarity with these (gen) ones?

Honda PCX:

[Jibuti 958]

mercury?

 

fookin noobs...plutonium is real deal.....PM me with serious offer.....

[Kleen™ 45]

mercury?

 

fookin noobs...plutonium is real deal.....PM me with serious offer.....

 

Wot? No polonium....?!

[Rokerite 2,441]

But is it 210 grade Polonium , or a cheaper version ?

[RUSH2112 11]

I haven't seen any replicas of $50,000 cars for $300 with the main difference being a copy of the drivetrain instead of the original brand so I think there is still a huge difference in the percent being spent on ads and endorsements between the two.

 

In part yes, but a car is a registered object, so it can't smuggle in a country and being used like a watch ;)

 

But they tried. At least with something smaller. Here a pic of the EICMA 2013 (the biggest motorcycle exposition in Italy) during Finance police checks in some Chinese stand:

 

 

DO you notice some similarity with these (gen) ones?

Honda PCX:

They make replica cars and kit cars. The point is the pricing. It's clear that the majority of the retail price of luxury watches is profit and marketing not R&D or hardware.

[Diver Dave 0]

Can't agree about the reseach and development thing. The beauty Rolex is plastered all over Wimbledon, that's where the money goes as another poster said...

 

 

 

Rolex is a private charitable foundation. Hans Willsdorf set that up before he died. As a private charity that does not accept any public funds, under Swiss law they do not need to (nor do they) divulge what the money is spent on. They do spend a lot on advertising, but they give the excess away at the end of the day.

 

Can't say that about other brands though.

[Left Coast Guy 24]

Can't agree about the reseach and development thing. The beauty Rolex is plastered all over Wimbledon, that's where the money goes as another poster said...

 

 

Rolex is a private charitable foundation. Hans Willsdorf set that up before he died. As a private charity that does not accept any public funds, under Swiss law they do not need to (nor do they) divulge what the money is spent on. They do spend a lot on advertising, but they give the excess away at the end of the day.

 

Can't say that about other brands though.

 

Hmm....that's not quite right. Rolex is definitely a for profit company, but a majority (almost all) of the ownership shares were transferred to a Not-for-Profit Trust. So the Company makes profit, but if it makes distributions to shareholders, those distributions go to a non-profit. Plenty or companies choose not to distribute profits and instead re-invest or horde cash (looking at you Apple).....so you can still make extreme profits if your shares are owned by a non-profit -- two separate concepts.

 

From the info out there on Rolex, it seems the main purpose of the trust is to keep Rolex alive and keep the brand strong.....so Rolex re-invests a ton and apparently pays its people pretty darn well.