Counterfeit and Replica Watches

First and foremost it is a criminal offense to knowingly buy and possess a counterfeit watch, the police have the ability to take the watch from your person as criminal evidence and if you are found to have bought the watch knowing of its origin then charges may ensue. You must always be wary of buying watches as there are very few signs as to whether they are counterfeit or not.

The market for counterfeit watches is massive and still growing as people are prepared to take the risk to save themselves large quantities of cash in this economic downturn. It is estimated that there are around 40 million sales every year just in Europe, this equates to £0.6 billion of net profit for the counterfeiters. The Asian market for this is much larger because their laws and police force are less firm with their approach to the subject, and the people are so strapped for cash that they will even enter this risky business of selling these fakes to make themselves some money to live on.

You can tell a counterfeit from a replica watch by the brand name if it is a big name brand then you might have a counterfeit watch, but if it is an obscure name but the watch looks like an existing watch by a big name company then you have a replica watch which is perfectly legal. Unfortunately the only way to tell if a watch is counterfeit or not is to take it to an expert on the subject who will perform certain tests specific to each watch that will tell you of its origin.

On the other hand Replica Watches are perfectly legal to buy as they do not claim to be the more notable brands just to be like them so that the masses can own what looks like a nice watch for a fraction of the price. This made the replica watch market boom and now people don't buy replica watches out of necessity but from conscious choice to have a cheaper yet stylish watch. Some Replica watch designers have noticed this trend and now bring out their own watch designs that don't follow another watch made by a bigger brand, in essence the replica watch makers have become brands in themselves through popular demand.

So if you are looking to buy a cheap, good looking watch then replica brands are for you but if you want the real deal then don't consider them as they are usually cheap for a reason, like the materials used aren't what they seem just overlaid with precious metals to make it look genuine or they may be designed to break so that you buy more of them. You must always check for quality, even amongst replicas.