Why are counterfeit watches that are even more expensive than the genuine ones so popular? These 6 famous watch brands have become the main targets of counterfeiting!

Those who wear fake watches are never the poor; rather, they are the wealthy who have seen through the rules of the brand game.

When people talk about “consumers of counterfeit goods”, many immediately assume that it is the choice of those who are short of money. However, the truth in the watch industry is quite the opposite – the group that is truly willing to pay high prices for counterfeit watches are often the wealthy people who can afford genuine watches. They are well-versed in the pricing logic of luxury goods and can even spend tens of thousands of yuan to purchase a well-made “super-grade counterfeit”. Behind this phenomenon lies a grey industrial chain specifically designed for the rich.

Why are the main consumers of fake watches people with wealth?

Understand the essence of brand premium pricing

The LANGE Master (16,000 yuan), the IWC Patek (32,000 yuan), and the TAG Heuer Blue Ball (50,000 yuan) all feature the ETA 2892-A2 movement. The cost difference between them is no more than 2,000 yuan, while the price difference is entirely due to brand premiums. As someone quipped: “Buying luxury goods is like buying a storybook; the price is the script fee rather than the paper cost.” The rich understand this well. They refuse to pay for the “brand tax” and instead opt for the “value-for-money solution” of using genuine movements and imitation case covers.

Identity is the anti-counterfeiting label.

In “The Necklace”, no one questioned the rich lady’s wearing the glass necklace. However, Mathilde, who spent all her money to buy the genuine one, was exposed. In reality, it’s the same: Li Ka-shing wears a Seiko watch worth 200 US dollars, and everyone praises his low-key style; ordinary people, on the other hand, wear a Patek Philippe worth 300,000 US dollars, but they are ridiculed as “pretending to be fat by puffing up their faces”. The confidence of the rich in buying fake watches comes precisely from the “trust filter” constructed by their social status.

Precise control of the process

The high-end counterfeit watch market has long moved beyond the stage of shoddy production. For instance, if the original ETA movement is installed in a counterfeit case, it’s like “fitting a Volkswagen engine into a BMW 5 Series”. Such products even exhibit the bizarre phenomenon where “counterfeit watches are more expensive than genuine ones” – for example, a counterfeit Richard Mille watch uses a genuine tourbillon movement and costs 10,000 yuan, which is higher than many entry-level genuine watches.

II. The Worst Affected Brands: These 6 Brands Become the “Money-making Machines” for Counterfeiters

1.Rolex Submariner Series

As the “king of counterfeiting” with a global counterfeit rate exceeding 30%, popular models such as “Black Ghost” and “Green Ghost” have mature production chains covering everything from the movement to the ceramic ring. Even professional workshops offer “true core, fake shell” customization services, with the price reaching 30% of the genuine product.

2.Cartier Blue Balloon

With its highly distinctive convex round crown design, this series has become the top brand in the women’s fake watch market. Some counterfeit models feature genuine crocodile skin straps and blue sapphire lenses, making it difficult for even the sales staff in the stores to distinguish the genuine from the fake.

3.Omega Seamaster Series

The “best value for money” model in the diving watch market has attracted intense imitation. The counterfeiters have even mastered the technology of liquid metal numerals on ceramic bezels, achieving 90% of the performance of the genuine product at a 600-meter water resistance level.

4.Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

The design patent featuring an octagonal bezel and a “TAPISSERIE” patterned dial has failed to prevent the reverse engineering by Chinese manufacturing factories. The counterfeit products made of stainless steel have reached a level very close to the genuine ones, and their circulation rate in the second-hand market has soared.

5.Patek Philippe Nautilus

The “leader” status in the industry makes him a target for counterfeiters’ technical breakthroughs. The latest seized super replica uses the same 324SC movement as the genuine product, with an error control of ±2 seconds per day.

6.Richard Miller

The “billionaire ticket” priced at 1.5 million yuan has given rise to a fraudulent chain: counterfeit products with a 5-level titanium alloy case and a genuine carbon fiber movement board, priced at 8,000 yuan, are still in high demand despite being in short supply.

III. Counterfeit Economics: The More Classic, The More Copied

The essence of counterfeiting is the reflection of market demand. Data shows that watches with the following characteristics are the most prone to being replicated:

Top 10 brand recognition (such as Rolex, Patek Philippe)
Strong liquidity (second-hand market price premium exceeds 20%)
Stable movement (ETA and SW movements are most favored by experienced users)
Classic design (no significant redesign within 10 years)

Low-end watch brands priced under 30,000 yuan are rarely counterfeited nowadays. And for those rare luxury watch models, even if the official price exceeds 500,000 yuan, they are still hard for counterfeiters to target. Just as the watch’s slogan goes: “No one would counterfeit loss-making goods, just as no one would forge paper money.”

Conclusion: The Human Game Behind the Fake Watches

When someone criticizes buying fake watches as a sign of vanity, don’t forget that the piracy rate of Microsoft Windows system once reached 90%, and there are always several cracked apps on ordinary people’s mobile phones. The essence of luxury consumption is a game of confirming one’s social status and identity value. In this game, the rich use fake watches to practice the philosophy of pragmatism, while ordinary people are trapped in the cognitive cocoon of “proving oneself through objects”. Perhaps as Hegel said: “Existence is reasonable”, the existence of this gray产业链 precisely reflects the most absurd survival logic in the consumerist era.