40 Million Fake Watches in Circulation Worldwide
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40 Million Fake Watches in Circulation Worldwide
At the international watch and jewelry fair 'Baselworld’, exhibitors from the entire world have been displaying their collections, up until 19th April. The manufacturers have good news – things are going better for the watch industry today than ever before. Admittedly, there is a downside in the growing number of imitations.
It is the great prestigious brands particularly, like Rolex, Omega, Breitling or Cartier who are stoking the growth in the watch industry. The president of the exhibitors’ committee, Jacques Duchêre, stressed that the impressive economic situation in China and India is leading to strong sales of watches, most of all from the upper price bracket. Swiss exports have climbed in the last year by around 11% to 13.7 billion Swiss francs. A growth rate in two figures is expected this year.
The growing distribution of imitations is nonetheless presenting problems for the manufacturers. In Switzerland about 25 million watches are produced annually, but on the other hand about 40 million imitations are turning up on the international market. The situation is really precarious, according to Duchêre. The losses suffered by the trade in counterfeits come to about 800 million Swiss francs. And since many imitations are well-made it is becoming harder and harder to recognize them as such.
At ‘Baselworld’ the Geneva consulting group IC Agency presented their ‘World Watch Report’, according to which it is primarily the Internet that is being used as a means to sell fake watches. It comes out of the investigation for example that in France the demand for fakes via the Internet almost doubled in 2006. 21% of the sought-after watches were counterfeits. In Germany the figure stands at 19%, in the USA 17%, in Britain 16% and Italy at 12%. The Rolex brand is the most affected by the counterfeit business, followed by Breitling and Cartier. With respect to the growth rate, imitation Breitling timepieces, with an increased demand of 71.8%, have overtaken copied Rolex watches who have marked up a 45% increase.
juk
