“Rolex is the most aspirational luxury watch brand and has the highest demand – hence, it’s the most replicated,” said van de Vall.
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Fakes are also becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot. Watchfinder used to be able to identify about 80 per cent of bogus timepieces by sight alone but now that’s just 20 per cent. Employees at the company, owned by Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, now need to perform more detailed inspections including opening watch casebacks and checking movements to identify the high-end knock-offs.
Fake or replica luxury watches are a growing problem in the US$27.3 billion per year secondary watch market, with some counterfeit versions fooling even the most knowledgeable experts.
Omega, part of Swatch Group AG, said last month that three former employees were part of a criminal plot to sell a ‘Frankenstein’ Omega Speedmaster, that was an amalgam of mostly authentic parts from other vintage watches. The watch sold at auction in 2021 for more than US$3 million, the highest price ever paid for an Omega timepiece. The company itself was the buyer and has said it was the victim of a criminal conspiracy.Inside LeBron James’ impressive luxury watch collection
It isn’t just Rolex watches that are being faked or altered with inauthentic parts and components.
“You see replica or clone watches – very, very high quality watches – of virtually all of the big luxury brands,” van de Vall said. “The whole gamut.”
The rising fraud in pre-owned watches comes after prices for the most desirable models spiked to unprecedented levels during the pandemic before pulling back sharply.
Secondary market prices have declined by about 18 per cent in the past year, according to the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks prices for the 50 most traded luxury watch models by value including Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.6 celebrity kids with extravagant luxury watches, from Rolex to Richard Mille
Less volatile prices in the watch market as speculators exit is welcome, van de Vall said.
“We’re not interested in the next crypto run. For us, it’s not about speculation, stability is good.”
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