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Replica vs Fake: Difference & risks

julien99999999

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Ok, it's a personal point of view, but I see some strange comments here, I'd like to enlighten all this stuff. Your comments are welcome.

Replica world: it's basically a non-profit or small-profit activity, non-organized (there is no real godfather), run by lonely watch enthusiasts who love discontinued & vintage watches, who sell expensive watches to watch enthusiasts who can't afford even more expensive gen ones or just have a bossy wife, or both

Fake world: it's an international organized for-profit activity, run by professional dealers who sell cheap modern counterfeits goods around the world to regular Joes and tourists

* * *
Basically, some brands could be Ok with replicas because it’s just about discontinued products. Ferrari tolerates that some dudes make replicas of vintage 365 GTS using the exact shape of this model and the word Ferrari and the logo. Porsche is now ok with replicas, but they still protect their trademark (logo+name). So you can make a new 356 from scratch, but you shall not use their logo. btw, in most countries, you can't protect brevets or a shape forever, but you can protect your trademark as long as you use it. You can also protect your right to face fair competitors. Fender and Gisbon are not really ok with replicas, because they don't have discontinued products: they sell the same guitars since the 50's, but they gave-up on protecting the shape of their main models. In many countries Fender and Gibson had a dominant position that could be a distortion of competition, they lost many cases regarding "heritage" guitars. Of course, they protect their trademark. Piaggio gave-up on protecting the shape of its discontinued Vespa from the 50's, but still protects their trademark. Rolex does not like replicas, in many countries they sue people who make "heritage" watches of modern products when the replica is too close of the gen, but they could be Ok for "heritage" watches of discontinued products. They even sue non official dealers/watchmakers who use the logo Rolex on their store or if they just fart near a Rolex.

Conclusion: brands don't really like replicas when they are the result of anti-competitive practices, but they can tolerate them a little bit, as a famous singer could tolerate a "look-alike" singer, because a copycat singer just embarrasses people at weddings and he’s not a real competitor. No brand is Ok with fake products.
 
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julien99999999

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that "replica" is not synonymous with "counterfeit/fake". I was pretty sure that you could understand, it was not a Marcel Proust literary essay or René Descartes' Discourse on Method

One is handcrafted by an european watch-geek dude in his home, the other is made by suffering children in a chinese factory

One is made for a soulmate, the other is made for a rival
 
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devilpro7

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They're all cheap for ppl who can't or dont want to pay for the brand.
 

julien99999999

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it's two different worlds.

replica: from latin "replicare" = repeat and replicate, doing the same as
fake: from latin "falsus" "fallere" = cheat, trick and dupe
 
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Wrestleantares

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Once you brand it, without permission, it is a fake. Heck even if you have permission it is still a fake - unless like the guy who bought all the unused Deloraen parts and is putting together the cars all original. Branded replica's are in fact fakes. All fake's may certainly not be a replica, but a replica is always a fake.
 

Glaude

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Maybe that's how you see it, but it's not how it is.

If you really want to go into semantics, I'd say : The replica world is the community that surround the fake world.

But in the end, the stuff we get from TDs are coming straight out your definition of the fake world, the replica world you are talking about would be more about the people doing modding or franken of those fake watches.

But make no mistakes, it's still a copyright infringement. Thankfully for us, most of the big brands don't care that much about the rep market, they poke it from time to time just to show that they are aware and watching, but other than that, it's nothing compared to the fashion brand and how they chase down counterfeit products.
And in others worlds, it's even worse.

Oh and there's hardly any child exploitation in the counterfeit watch market and in most intricate business, child worker are used in more simpler environnement
 

muiramas

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it's two different worlds.

replica: from latin "replicare" = repeat and replicate, doing the same as
fake: from latin "falsus" "fallere" = cheat, trick and dupe

Dude, they’re fakes. Nothing is ‘replicated’ - an inferior copy of the original. There is no 1:1.

Cheat, trick and dupe? You could use a ‘replica’ for doing just that.

Don’t sugar coat it - fake / replica is the same thing a more accurate fake is still a fake. One sounds better / easier to justify...

“I don’t buy fake watches, I only buy replicas’? Come on - who are you trying to kid?
 

tripdog

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Fake is a pejorative term, suggesting very low quality, and not necessarily a great deal of accuracy to the original.

Replica is a word used by 'watch enthusiasts/collectors'. Using the R word makes many people feel better about what they're spending their money on.

We're all wearing, buying and selling fake watches, the better quality ones could merit the name 'replica', but they're all fake - simply because they aren't real.
 

rolexwatchfan

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Well, actually that makes sense. Prime example would be the Daytona case:
All 7750 "clones" are FAKE no matter how "close to gen" case/dial/pushers/crown are. The movement is FAKE.
Noob SA4130 however is a "clone" of 4130 with SAME functions as the genuine which makes is a REPLICA.
In conclusion, the watches which are made to look like genuine counterparts are FAKE and those with cloned - genuine movements which can be replaced with genuine parts are REPLICAS.
It's not a point of view, it's a fact.
 
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Glaude

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Well, actually that makes sense. Prime example would be the Daytona case:
All 7750 "clones" are FAKE no matter how "close to gen" case/dial/pushers/crown are. The movement is FAKE.
Noob SA4130 however is a "clone" of 4130 with SAME functions as the genuine which makes is a REPLICA.
In conclusion, the watches which are made to look like genuine counterparts are FAKE and those with cloned - genuine movements which can be replaced with genuine parts are REPLICAS.
It's not a point of view, it's a fact.

But thing is, those replica are still fakes as in the legal acceptation of the word (and that legality we are talking about here). Fake = counterfeit product in the sense their are not from the original manufacturer.

We can go on and on, on semantics, about how we feel, about the hobby and things done, but in the end, they are still fakes no matter how you turn it around.

Oh and not all 7750 are fake, There's quite a lot of genuine watches using this ETA movement, old navitimer for example and many more
 
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rolexwatchfan

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But thing is, those replica are still fakes as in the legal acceptation of the word (and that legality we are talking about here). Fake = counterfeit product in the sense their are not from the original manufacturer.

We can go on and on, on semantics, about how we feel, about the hobby and things done, but in the end, they are still fakes no matter how you turn it around.

Oh and not all 7750 are fake, There's quite a lot of genuine watches using this ETA movement, old navitimer for example and many more

LOL. Of course we could take it to the next level. (Surprised that PecMan hasn't show up yet).
"Counterfeit" is the equalizer term for both FAKE and REPLICA in this context but yet again - REPLICA is more GEN LIKE being made 1:1 true to GEN. :jeff:
 
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