The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie is on a special mission – to fight against counterfeiting.
According to the official statistics, more than 40 million fake watches are sold each year, compared with the 26 million genuine watches made in 2010; this equals a net profit of US$1 billion for counterfeiters. With revenues in excess of US$ 400 billion, counterfeiting siphons off 7% of world trade.
As we're not used to think about counterfeiting as about highly criminal activity, we often fail to realize this is a highly lucrative activity for criminal organizations, as it gathers a lot of profit and incurs fewer sanctions than drug trafficking, for example. When an end customer buys a counterfeit watch, they are actually jeopardizing their own health, becoming an accomplice to organized crime, child labor, intellectual property theft, and damage to the brand identity.
In 2009, the Foundation launched Fake Watches are for Fake People, a major public information campaign that appeared in 120 media in 24 countries. Now a new campaign is asking You have the choice! – Don't be a partner in crime. Here is the promotional video for the campaign. Even though some may find it exaggerated, here at Luxois we definitely support the collective efforts against any kind of criminal activity and encourage our readers to act with more responsibility. Buying a counterfeit watch isn’t just opting for a beautiful cheep piece that is virtually identical to the original, but also saying “Yes” to criminal by ignoring all important social issues related to this problem.
"Buying a counterfeit watch isn't just about buying a nice piece... it is also about jeopardizing your own health... supporting organized crime... forced labor... and even child exploitation... risking penalties... Do not buy fake."
When buying a watch, always buy from official retailers and distributors. If you’re buying a watch online, be sure to check seller’s identity. Always demand the product’s authenticity certificate.
Recommended reading:
How to tell if a Rolex is stolen.
