A rare peek into factory of counterfeit watches

[Corgi]

Hello,

This may have been posted here before. If so, I sincerely apologize.

Shenzhen, China.

[1]

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[8]

[9] Infamous Swiss trained technicians (?)

Best wishes,

Corgi

[Guest avitt]

Yup...that's about how I've pictured it.

[manuel]

what will happen to the trained technician?

I think this does not happen to big factories because they pay well.

[Bark3rd]

Ummm, are those cops busting the place???? Theres going to be some bling on the wrists of the Chinese police force!

[The Mentalist]

I guess that's the reason why HBB prices have gone through the roof.

[By-Tor]

No worries guys. This doesn't concern our suppliers.

Those Hublots are either quartz of faux versions.

[Victoria]

See. This is why I'm a NIMBY.

Cute pink and yellow post boxes.

Well, at least they have a fan. And a water cooler. Or is that Fanta?

EDIT: Wait, whoa are the police moonlighting as counterfeiters?

WOW! THIS IS THE WO-MART INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS!!

Look ma. No drop-shipping.

Sorely in need of:

There but for the grace of God, go I. I'm sorry for them...

Thanks, Corgi. Most interesting.

[The Mentalist]

I bet that girl is thinking "Doh! I knew I shouldn't have put our address on Ali Baba!"

Seriously, this is what's called being banged to rights.

[Victoria]

I bet that girl is thinking [...]

"Oh God, and in my Hello Kitty t-shirt too"

[Bark3rd]

"Oh God, and in my Hello Kitty t-shirt too"

ha ha that cracked me up!

[chris5264]

[8]

This looks a lot like my watch table.............seriously.

[Bark3rd]

What are those blue rubber things for?

[chris5264]

What are those blue rubber things for?

round one takes the back off,,,the other blows air to get all the little (and not so little) pieces out of the case before you put it together....

[freddy333]

What are those blue rubber things for?

They are air blowers, used to clean dust off delicate parts.

[Daytona4me]

At least we now know who to blame for the fu*kin finger prints on the f*ck*ing crystals!

[OiRogers]

Look again... those are the crappy HBBs... screws are wrong... subdials wrong... etc etc etc....

But all in all... pretty much what I expected to see for a rep "factory"

[narikaa]

"No use crying love....its a mandatory 18months back in Little White Lie School for you"

.

[Corgi]

Better stuff is built by professionals.

The same professionals who forgot to remove three giant pieces of dust from the inside of my pam? The ones who sent my a broken Rolex yacht master with gold that was peeling and non-working movement? Wait... you mean the folks whose every single submariner loses its bezel ring? Or is the ones who leave pubes inside their watches? Or those who somehow manage to send us destroyed watches on an almost weekly basis?

'cuz I doubt the fancy "factories" look any more professional and sterile than this despite the word "factory" eliciting feelings of many workers sitting behind tidy desks in white robes in giant white rooms ensuring precision in construction.

The big rep-making factories are probably just taller/larger apartment buildings with more (in both meanings of the word here) disgruntled employees...

[2005SUBMARINER]

man i always wondered where my rep has been put together

[Victoria]

Look again... those are the crappy HBBs... screws are wrong... subdials wrong... etc etc etc....

But all in all... pretty much what I expected to see for a rep "factory"

I wasn't kidding when I said that was Wo-Mart International Headquarters.

[Slartibartfast]

There was an article on the radio news here in the UK only today, advising people to avoid buying counterfeit goods as gifts for Christmas. They did not specifically mention watches, but the substance of the report told how profits from counterfeit goods funded terrorism, pornograhy and organsed crime. OK call me naive, but I had not considered this possibility. Anyone here have any insight into this and how it may or may noy affect our own hobby?

[freddy333]

Organized crime, probably (they are into just about everything). But terrorists? All I can say is that if the government has convinced you that Marijuana is physically addictive, there were WMDs in Iraq in 2003 & God made little green apples, then you can help save the free world from terrorism by not buying reps.

[chris5264]

On the other hand, it would be interesting to know how often the funds from counterfeits go to those dealing with the very basics necessities like food and shelter, that group didn't seem to be dealing with life

[Victoria]

There was an article on the radio news here in the UK only today, advising people to avoid buying counterfeit goods as gifts for Christmas. They did not specifically mention watches, but the substance of the report told how profits from counterfeit goods funded terrorism, pornograhy and organsed crime. OK call me naive, but I had not considered this possibility. Anyone here have any insight into this and how it may or may noy affect our own hobby?

Before I bought any rep, I had read in news articles that counterfeit goods funded terrorism.

Instinctively, I think this either is hyperbole, misrepresentation, or just wrong.

Organised crime? Of course. They have their hands in any illicit activity, anywhere in the world.

So the question becomes, why are journalists so insistent in advancing this "terrorism" angle, in almost all the serious articles I've read on the matter, in journals of record (like the NYT, WaPo)?

The answer CANNOT be that their journo hands have been greased by Rolex, or Richemont or Louis Vuitton, etc. Some perhaps, but not all. And funding terrorism is injected in ALL the articles.

Again, I ask why? Mischief-making?

I'd like to see the evidence too, but there has to be a concrete reason that goes behind cynicism about government, politics, and tired Bill Maher schticks.

[freddy333]

On the other hand, it would be interesting to know how often the funds from counterfeits go to those dealing with the very basics necessities like food and shelter, that group didn't seem to be dealing with life’s luxuries. I'm not saying that justifies anything (one could make the same argument for selling drugs) but does put a different spin on it.

Nearly all of the profits coming from the manufacture & (wholesale) sale of reps have always gone to the guys at the top of the food chain. The workers, for the most part, tend to be used & abused. If they were not working on reps, they would probably be making the same bare-subsistence wages growing rice, making tofu or sewing replica LV handbags. Then again, I would wager a guess that paychecks from rep factory bosses, such as they are, are probably alot more consistent than paychecks from other sweat shop-based industries because business is so good.