Airport security?

[danhobson17]

On a recent trip through Frankfurt airport i was told my laptop needed further investigation. I was taken to a seperate room where my copmputer was swabbed and tested. The thing that caught my eye was on the next table. Two security guys were looking at a couple of watches (not sure what they where) both looked the same. They had some small watch tools such as drivers and case back remover and seemed to be comparing the two. after a while, one guy took one of the watches, placed it back in a case and took it to a locked cabinet with other small cases (possibly other watches but not sure). The owner of the other watch was called into the room where the two security guys looked sturnley at him and put his watch in a clear bag with some paper work. Before i could see any more of the situation i was told that my computer was fine and i could leave.

I travel the world on business all the time and always wear my gen Longines Dolce Vita. Ok so its not an 'expensive' watch and not 'in your face', but ive never had any interest from security.

Am i barking up the wrong tree here or is this regular practice at airports. As someone waiting to pull the trigger on a few reps, but also passes through Frankfurt airport around 40 times per year, i have to admit, its made me a bit paranoid.

Of course i could have totaly missread the situation and someone here can tell me to stop being so stupid but i dont want to spend good money on a beautiful rep, to have it taken and destroyed.

Coments from other frequent travellers and experience would be appreciated.

Dan.

[watchman12345]

There is absolutely zero chance that airport security would take a watch from your wrist and suspect it was a fake. Unless you are carrying a few in your bag and they thought you should be paying duty on them they won't care.

In most countries there is nothing illegal about wearing a rep and there is certainly no way an airport customs officer would call out a decent rep by looking at it passing though an xray machine.

Nothing to worry about!

[panerai153]

Obviously the watches in the locked case were genuine watches that they were using as comparison watches. Crazy idea in my opinion. First off there are literally thousands of models from all the watch companies in the world, second there are within every model untold numbers of variants. So to be able to tell a rep from a gen, they would ,one) have to have the exact same model and variant of the gen to have a valid comparison, and two) would have to have a watchmaker or at least someone trained, to remove the case back and examine the watch. So suppose you are traveling with your genuine Rolex TT blue dial sub, but the airport only has a black dial S/S model. Would they seize your watch because it was a fake Rolex just because it has a blue dial and SS/gold bezel, crown, band? I believe that they would have their ass handed to them in their hand if they ever tried that, at least in the USA. Now if the passenger was traveling with a sack full of watches with no documentation, perhaps they might be suspicious, but one watch on the wrist or a couple in their carry on, no way. Having said that, at one time several years ago, some of the Vintage Rolex folks who travel all over the world to watch fairs, trade shows, sales, etc. suggested that for your own peace of mind, if traveling outside the USA, it would be a good idea to have some form of documentation for your watches, either a sales receipt or an appraisal form, or some documents to show that you brought the watches in the USA and were traveling with them with the intent of taking them back to the USA with you. I went to my local Rolex AD who i knew from watch purchases and asked them to give me a letter saying that my watches were purchased in the USA.They wrote up a short letter, with a physical description and serial numbers, signed it and I was good to go. I made a few copies, and when i traveled,I took it with me.I would guess that I could travel through airports in Europe a thousand times and never have to show any documents, but it was just something that helped with my peace of mind in case on the one thousand and first time I got stopped.

Another question, is it illegal to own a rep in Germany? I believe that in Switzerland, it is illegal to posses a rep watch, but not sure about other countries.

With all the terrorist moving about the world with the sole intent of blowing up and destroying everything, you would think that airport security personnel's time would be better spent searching for explosives, guns, knives, etc. rather than examining the wrists of every passenger ,hoping to find a contraband watch!!

[danhobson17]

Thanks for the comments guys. I fully understand and agree with you that airport security have a far more improtant job than looking for replica goods. As im new to this, im just trying to cover all bases (whetether stupid or not) before i start with buying. As mentioned in the original post, i probably missread the whole situation and just jumped to the wrong conclusion, but all this doesnt change the fact that i simply dont have the money to spend and loose, and i just wanted the opinion of people far more experienced than me (which you have given and i am very grateful for).

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[Logan]

Weird.. I have travelled the world extensively and have never had even a glance at my watch anywhere. Of course if the one they were checking came from a suitcase full then it's a different story but I'd be very surprised if you'd have a problem with anything off your wrist. I can't speak for Switzerland though, might be different there due to their unique perspective on rep watches

If you had a rep in the presentation box in your suitcase then you're possibly up for duty. A tip from my own customs, anything you are wearing is duty free, so if you're a guy who just brought the engagement ring overseas, put it on. You might look silly but it's duty free. Likewise if you buy a loose stone for custom mounting, have a cheap mount made so you can wear it thru customs.

For the same reason, I never travel with multiple watches, I know it's cool to have a dress one etc.. but get over the ego and leave them at home. If you must take a second one only and wear it on your other wrist.

[couvreur]

Weird.. I have travelled the world extensively and have never had even a glance at my watch anywhere.

I can't speak for Switzerland though, might be different there due to their unique perspective on rep watches

Second that, Switzerland was the only county I was EVER asked to take the watch off my wrist, for inspection. Luckily, I have as a principle to only travel with a gen ;-)

If I plan to bring a rep from a trip to Asia, I'd just start the trip without a watch!

A tip from my own customs, anything you are wearing is duty free, so if you're a guy who just brought the engagement ring overseas, put it on.

If you must take a second [watch] only and wear it on your other wrist.

Totally agree. I did both, and never cared to look stupid!

[gasebah]

Also I would not even understand what the purpose would be to identify a watch as fake. Because in Germany it is NOT illegal to own a fake watch. It is also NOT illegal to bring one in the country as long as you bought it for yourself. What is illegal in Germany is any kind of trade traffic of fake goods. The funny thing is that the law is very herterogenous in the EU when it comes to this. While ownership of a fake watch is not illegal in Germany it is e.g. in France and Italy. If you bring a fake watch to Italy or France they can fine you up to 10.000 €.

On the other hand it has become almost impossible to bring a watch from outside the EU into Germany with any kind of postal or shipment service. In this case Geman customs is very pragmatic, they just presume that the watch is traded to you and thus the watch is trade traffic. The will seize 99% I suppose. The legal distinction between ownership, trading and trade traffic is subtle and I do not know if I could make myself clear in English..... Sorry.

[Jkay]

Can you imagine the line-item in an annual fiscal budget for airport or State-operated security services:

ITEM 37N: BIG-ASS LOCKER OF GENUINE LUXURY WATCHES - 956,499 EUROS (one needed per major airport)

To be used for: required to occasionally stop a Chinese watch from entering the Country

Why don't I see this as realistic?

They probably gave the fellow in your story a stern look because they were wishing him a happy birthday. This is Germany, after all.

[TeeJay]

Obviously the watches in the locked case were genuine watches that they were using as comparison watches. Crazy idea in my opinion. First off there are literally thousands of models from all the watch companies in the world, second there are within every model untold numbers of variants. So to be able to tell a rep from a gen, they would ,one) have to have the exact same model and variant of the gen to have a valid comparison, and two) would have to have a watchmaker or at least someone trained, to remove the case back and examine the watch. So suppose you are traveling with your genuine Rolex TT blue dial sub, but the airport only has a black dial S/S model. Would they seize your watch because it was a fake Rolex just because it has a blue dial and SS/gold bezel, crown, band? I believe that they would have their ass handed to them in their hand if they ever tried that, at least in the USA. Now if the passenger was traveling with a sack full of watches with no documentation, perhaps they might be suspicious, but one watch on the wrist or a couple in their carry on, no way. Having said that, at one time several years ago, some of the Vintage Rolex folks who travel all over the world to watch fairs, trade shows, sales, etc. suggested that for your own peace of mind, if traveling outside the USA, it would be a good idea to have some form of documentation for your watches, either a sales receipt or an appraisal form, or some documents to show that you brought the watches in the USA and were traveling with them with the intent of taking them back to the USA with you. I went to my local Rolex AD who i knew from watch purchases and asked them to give me a letter saying that my watches were purchased in the USA.They wrote up a short letter, with a physical description and serial numbers, signed it and I was good to go. I made a few copies, and when i traveled,I took it with me.I would guess that I could travel through airports in Europe a thousand times and never have to show any documents, but it was just something that helped with my peace of mind in case on the one thousand and first time I got stopped.

Another question, is it illegal to own a rep in Germany? I believe that in Switzerland, it is illegal to posses a rep watch, but not sure about other countries.

With all the terrorist moving about the world with the sole intent of blowing up and destroying everything, you would think that airport security personnel's time would be better spent searching for explosives, guns, knives, etc. rather than examining the wrists of every passenger ,hoping to find a contraband watch!!

Reps are illegal to own in Italy. Not just for customs, but entirely. I have read about confiscations of reps, but believe that was part of a raid on a market known for selling replica merch, I'm not too sure how likely it is for a passing police officer to grab my wrist and drag the Sub from it...

As for terrorists, there's a particular Casio which is on the 'watch list' (no pun intended) for the security services. I'm really tempted to get one just for travelling, as well as a T-Shirt reading 'Allahu Akbar' in Arabic, but wifey's not so keen on the idea

[pjsayer]

Not good reading - I'm currently in Sardinia heading home to the U.K. In the next couple of days.

I've got a Trevor DSSD and a Noob 16610 am I less likely to have the watch confiscated by wearing one (or both!) or leaving both in the suit case??

[txcollector]

The part that I find more disturbing about this is the fact they've opened the watch in some security backroom. If that was one of my gens I'd send them the bill for the service.

If they have doubts about the watch they can confiscate until you prove whatever they are asking for. They cannot just open a watch to verify anything (at least I don't think they should be able to).

[TeeJay]

Not good reading - I'm currently in Sardinia heading home to the U.K. In the next couple of days.

I've got a Trevor DSSD and a Noob 16610 am I less likely to have the watch confiscated by wearing one (or both!) or leaving both in the suit case??

Wear the one you can least afford to lose, and just wrap the other in a sock and put it in a shoe. Wearing two Rolexes is going to make you look like a prize twat, but travelling with one in a shoe, you can simply point out you didn't want it to get damaged during the flight (if you even get questioned, which I doubt you will...)

[txcollector]

Wear the one you can least afford to lose, and just wrap the other in a sock and put it in a shoe. Wearing two Rolexes is going to make you look like a prize [censored], but travelling with one in a shoe, you can simply point out you didn't want it to get damaged during the flight (if you even get questioned, which I doubt you will...)

not sure what this would do since they will see it on xrays and it would only be a hassle to take the shoe, etc out of your bag just to put all of it back.

Don't be too worried about it. Just act natural and in fact carry them in a very reasonable and accessible way. Trying to conceal things is the biggest red flag for any security person.

I carry my gens and reps in travel cases, in the same bag as my macbook, ipad, etc (meaning close to me for protection). The most I had to do was to open one of them in Spain (I had 6 I guess). I did it very naturally, the guy just said "nice" or something like that and that was the end of it.

[TeeJay]

not sure what this would do since they will see it on xrays and it would only be a hassle to take the shoe, etc out of your bag just to put all of it back.

Don't be too worried about it. Just act natural and in fact carry them in a very reasonable and accessible way. Trying to conceal things is the biggest red flag for any security person.

I carry my gens and reps in travel cases, in the same bag as my macbook, ipad, etc (meaning close to me for protection). The most I had to do was to open one of them in Spain (I had 6 I guess). I did it very naturally, the guy just said "nice" or something like that and that was the end of it.

I've done this in the past with no hassles, or, just leave it in a sock in the baggage might be better so it's clear it's protection not a concealment. I think someone carrying multiple watches in a suitcase might be considered as suspicious, but one on the arm, one in the bag, I can't see it raising flags, especially as you say, if behaving naturally, rather than acting like someone with a kilo of Columbian Purest up the backside

[txcollector]

I think someone carrying multiple watches in a suitcase might be considered as suspicious

different styles, different watches. I just look like a snob, not suspicious.

[TeeJay]

different styles, different watches. I just look like a snob, not suspicious.

That's okay then

[pjsayer]

not sure what this would do since they will see it on xrays and it would only be a hassle to take the shoe, etc out of your bag just to put all of it back.

Don't be too worried about it. Just act natural and in fact carry them in a very reasonable and accessible way. Trying to conceal things is the biggest red flag for any security person.

I carry my gens and reps in travel cases, in the same bag as my macbook, ipad, etc (meaning close to me for protection). The most I had to do was to open one of them in Spain (I had 6 I guess). I did it very naturally, the guy just said "nice" or something like that and that was the end of it.

So a security X-ray is going to red flag a single watch wrapped in a sock? Mmm doubtful. Surely they'll be trained to target suspicious packages/fluids/canisters etc.?

What are the odds of a Customs officer asking me to take a watch off to inspect it?

[hambone]

It is plausible that a small amount of C-4 could be placed into a watch causing enough force to decompress the cabin pressure.

The clever wearer of a device like this would be sucked out the expanding hole, Hopefully they are not thinking that far ahead and now

watches are the next item to be prohibited. One cannot predict what these over zealous security people will do next to make flying

just a bit more aggravating. I remember when air travel was enjoyable.

[txcollector]

It is plausible that a small amount of C-4 could be placed into a watch causing enough force to decompress the cabin pressure.

The clever wearer of a device like this would be sucked out the expanding hole, Hopefully they are not thinking that far ahead and now

watches are the next item to be prohibited. One cannot predict what these over zealous security people will do next to make flying

just a bit more aggravating. I remember when air travel was enjoyable.

C4 glows like a xmas tree in the xray scans plus the detonator would also stand out.

[txcollector]

So a security X-ray is going to red flag a single watch wrapped in a sock? Mmm doubtful. Surely they'll be trained to target suspicious packages/fluids/canisters etc.?

that's not what I said. IF they decide to look for the watch (all watches will show well in the xray), it will be suspicious if you decided to put it inside a shoe.

Remember those are 2D images and if they find it out of place they will like to inspect closely. A watch when overlapped with another object could raise a flag. Try putting a watch in front of another electronic (like an ipad) to see how the xray person reacts.

[pjsayer]

It brings to mind quite a funny story...

My wife and I went to Lake Garda earlier in the year for our honeymoon and I brought my Noob c-Sub and Santos XL as a change up. I wore the Sub home and wrapped the Cartier in a sock inside one of my shoes in my main suit case. Didn't think twice about it.

Anyway as we were waiting in the gate lounge my name was called on the tannoy. A polite Italian woman explained that there was something irregular with my luggage and asked me to follow one of her security team to a far away hangar. Needless to say I was bricking it thinking I'd have my watch confiscated and maybe even get a hefty fine. Turns out something had switched my shaver on and it was vibrating inside the case! Embarrassing but, alas, not infringing on any Customs laws!!!

Moral of the story - always selotape up your shaver (or any other vibrating electrical equipment ;-)) prior to packing!!! Or better still use a wet razor!!!!

[TeeJay]

It is plausible that a small amount of C-4 could be placed into a watch causing enough force to decompress the cabin pressure.

The clever wearer of a device like this would be sucked out the expanding hole, Hopefully they are not thinking that far ahead and now

watches are the next item to be prohibited. One cannot predict what these over zealous security people will do next to make flying

just a bit more aggravating. I remember when air travel was enjoyable.

If the opening credits of Tomorrow Never Dies can be believed, then the 'x rays' used in airport scanners can penetrate watch cases and determine the contents I'm not sure if people have to take their watches off when going through the metal detector and putting them in the shoe/belt/phone tray (although I always have for ease of not setting off the metal detector) but I suspect they'd just insist someone put their watch through with everything else

[TeeJay]

that's not what I said. IF they decide to look for the watch (all watches will show well in the xray), it will be suspicious if you decided to put it inside a shoe.

Remember those are 2D images and if they find it out of place they will like to inspect closely. A watch when overlapped with another object could raise a flag. Try putting a watch in front of another electronic (like an ipad) to see how the xray person reacts.

Do you really think so? When I did just that in the past, it was simply to protect the watch and stop it rattling about in the suitcase (not having a watch case to carry abroad) If I'd been pulled by customs, I would have naturally just explained that it was to give protection, and I can't imagine customs not accepting that as an explanation Several watches stuffed in a suitcase, I could imagine raising eyebrows, but a single watch wrapped up for protection (especially if it's running and telling the correct time) I could see that reasoning being accepted