NO FAKES!

Good morning everyone!

here we are again with a new article from our blog, a "hot" article!, yes, because this time we have decided to tackle a very particular topic, the world of fake watches.

But let's start from the beginning as always....

the world of high-level watchmaking has always had very high economic standards for those who want to enter it, sometimes to have a "standard" model in steel you have to be willing to spend a few thousand euros.

This is why, in addition to defining a social status, the luxury watch market like all other related markets (fashion and accessories) have given way to the birth of so-called "replicas", mostly produced in China or Turkey, with materials very poor and already at first sight very different from the originals, to satisfy those who "want to but can't".

But today we don't want to talk about the obvious, we don't want to force you to read a few lines about beach replicas, today we want to talk to you about that "underground" world that runs parallel to the world of collecting and selling watches, a very dangerous reality that every year ago its victims among unsuspecting buyers, we are talking about the world of FRANKEN.

But what does FRANKEN mean?

the word comes from FRANKENSTEIN, the "assembled" creature par excellence.

one above all, that of FRANKENSTEIN JUNIOR ;))

In our case, this term defines watches that have been assembled using original parts combined with skillfully reconstructed parts.

Constructions carried out perfectly following all the characteristics of the originals, only an attentive eye, equipped with the necessary tools, knowing exactly where to look, can notice the differences, and thus avoid incurring dangerous and very expensive scams.

a dial of a fake 6240 "SOLO" - in WHITE the characters of the original
ph. PEREZCOPE

The world of the Frankens mostly concerns vintage watchmaking, where it is increasingly difficult to trace documents that can prove originality and exactly define a contemporary watch from a non-original one, also because until the last century the manufacturers too had far fewer restrictions and controls in production, for example Rolex, in the sixties had some overlaps on the references that today are difficult to reconstruct, especially on the first pre-Daytona, regarding the correspondence between the references and the rarest dials.

on the left a 6263 Franken, the lettering on the dial, the buttons, the crown and the glass are different from the original on the right.

It happened that some very famous auction house proposed and sold Daytonas with disassembled dials from less sought-after models, but which, combined with other bezel and button configurations, acquired a greater value.

Or even the auction houses themselves found themselves having to deal with mechanisms, again from Rolex Daytonas with manual winding, the V727, fakes, assembled with original parts and reproduced parts, drastically dropping the value of the watch.

a fake caliber 727, left, compared to the original - ph. PEREZCOPE

But counterfeiting does not stop there, there are also other practices that are much more difficult to detect, for example the transformation of a gold and steel Daytona 16523 into a 16520 only steel, which as you know is worth almost double.

In this case it is sufficient to work on the abrasion and subsequent retyping of the number 3 and replace it with the number 0, only with very high precision instruments can this counterfeit be detected, replace all the gold parts with steel ones, including the dial, and you have the your 16520 fake.

an original case of a gold and steel DAYTONA 16523

the case above is false, the 3 has been replaced with the 0

Today even the world of modern watches is dealing with a production very close to the original, on YouTube there are many videos that compare fakes with the originals, you will be amazed at how identical they are to inattentive eyes.

In China, the progenitor country of fake production, they have reached truly incredible levels, starting from the use of the same 904L steel used by Rolex, up to the perfect copies of the calibres.

left, a DAYTONA PANDA made in China compared to the original

But even here, a very attentive eye can reveal the mystery, always try to analyze the details accurately, speaking of modern watches, ask yourself if, given the high cost, the smudges or poorly finished details are plausible..I would say no, right ?

Always remember to carefully choose the retailer and the watch first, look for people who have proven experience in the sector and who can guarantee you the purchase, only in this way can you feel safe from incurring in unpleasant adventures!

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Our new NO FAKE graphic inspired by this article will be available soon..in a limited series of 100 pieces..a very special collection of sweatshirts and t-shirts! GET READY TO BOOK IT, you will receive instructions directly to your email in the next few days ( if you have not yet subscribed to our newsletter, do so now!)

Soon!

Luca from INCASODIVINTAGE