Fake watches are for fake people, that’s a pretty harsh assessment, probably not the negative advertising I would want to be associated with. So where did this advertising originate? Well, Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie [FHH] is an advisory board with the intent to promote watchmaking that is located in Geneva. This think tank engages in education, promotion and certification. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry [FHS] is to protect and promote the Swiss watch industry and is headquartered in Bienne, Switzerland.

Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie is a largely Richemont Group undertaking with Audemars Piguet, and Girard-Perregaux owned by Sowind Group along with Ulysse Nardin. The Richemont Group brands include Cartier, A. Lange & Söhne, Panerai, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, and IWC. Then there is TAG Heuer of LVMH and independent brands include Oris, Czapek, and Breitling.

The campaign was launched in 2009 at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie [SIHH], a trade show in Geneva. The SIHH was an invitation only event including authorised dealers and journalists, apparently some selected VIP collectors were also invited. The message is that wearing fake luxury implies that the person is not authentic, they are pretentious and lack humility, that is a hard message to sell. Then there is the issue that criminal networks produce fake goods, that is a real concern and a much easier message to promote.

There is the hommage, a design that is directly copied, I see so many cheap watchmakers replicate a Rolex Submariner or the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Sure, the Gérald Genta designed Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus integrated bracelet design have been copied by watchmakers from Rolex, Chopard, Bulgari, Girard-Perregaux and Tissot to Citizen. So I ask, where does a design style infringe copyright? An integrated bracelet timepiece, a dive watch, a pilot’s watch or a field watch all correspond to certain design features.