Over $10 Million in Fake Rolex Watches Were Seized at the Border This Week

We at Wrist Enthusiast have tried really hard to keep our readers and clients safe and informed since we started late last year. Since we are both based in metropolitan areas, we’ve highlighted safety concerns with wearing luxury watches out and about, as well as the booming and (arguably) unstoppable fake watch market. Well? Today brought a story that mixes a bit of both.

This week, another major bust happened at the border with 460 fake watches seized. This is one of, if not the largest fake watch busts this year.

460 Rolex Watches Seized by Cinncinati CBP Agents last week

On April 28th, Cincinnati Border Patrol agents seized a package containing 300 counterfeit Rolex watches headed for Brooklyn. New York. The following day, they seized a second package containing an additional 160 watches headed for the same place - Bringing the total to 460 total fake Rolexes in 2 days. Apparently, they did some quick math and determined that if these watches were real, they’d be valued at over $10,000,000.

Another thing they noted, was that they also received another shipment earlier in August with around the same amount of watches seized. Overall, their claim is that, had the watches been real, they’d have seized over $20,000,000 in watches in just April.

Interestingly, it seems that all these watches have been coming from the same Hong Kong location (and from an already flagged vendor), and attempting to be delivered to the New York City region. Obviously, we all know that NYC is a mecha for fake products (Canal Street Anyone?) but it seems that these fake products are moving in at an alarmingly high rate these days. Which sort of begs the question about how large the market for these fake watches are these days.

According to the US Customs and Border Patrol, in the 2021 Fiscal year, they’ve seized over 27,000 shipments with Intellectual Property Violations included in them - A 152% increase from 2020. This includes everything from Apparel and Handbags, to car parts, to the most interestingly high part of them all - Watches. Watches and Jewelry were BY FAR the most seized item in the 2021 Fiscal Year - Accounting for over 36% of the total assets seized. CBP values the fake jewelry and watches alone to account for over $1.8 Billion in product - A Truly staggering number.

And in theory, with a 152% increase in 2021, and a hardcore start to the 2022 year with this bust, things aren’t exactly looking up (er… down?) in the fake watch market. The good news for us enthusiasts is that (for the most part) many of these replica watch dealers are up front about selling replica watches - Both for the fear of prosecution, and because most enthusiasts looking to buy luxury goods have done a fair amount of their research, and can spot a fake fairly easily.

Photo Courtesy of Gentleman’s Gazette.

The bad news is that so many of these watches are ending up in circulation, and even on prominent members of society and celebrities. For me, it begs a question about whether the lack of supply is actually aiding the fake watch market to boom more openly, and with more authority. With so many fakes ending up on the wrists of celebrities, even after being called out about it, it’s interesting to think that people are becoming bolder about wearing their fake watches in public or flexing them on Social Media.

We’ve seen members of the community like WatchAnish relentlessly calling out high-profile influencers and enthusiasts wearing fake Richard Milles and Patek Philippe’s. With Rolex anyway, it can sometimes take a trained eye to notice a fake, and so it makes a lot of us wonder how many more slip through the cracks. Rolex’s Supply Issues aren’t helping with the influx of fake watches into the community - neither is the relative accessibility of importing directly from the Far East.

Overall, it’s sad to see so much increase in the fake watch markets, but it feels a little inevitable with the state of Luxury Goods post-Covid. While the industry itself has been ramping up for a long time (thankfully, we’re seeing it start to taper off some), it seems that many are much more desperate to obtain their watches by any means they can - Lending to the thriving fake market.

No one buys a luxury brand watch expecting it to fail or fall apart. As consumers increasingly purchase from online or third party vendors, our officers are at the frontline to guard against defrauders expecting to make money selling fake merchandise.

-Chicago Director of Field Operations, LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke

Thankfully, we’re seeing these success stories of CBP seizing loads of watches entering the country. While it’s a start, we’re a long way from curbing the seemingly impossible task of managing the fake watch markets. Until then, be safe out there guys.

Have you ever had an encounter with a fake watch? If so, what was your experience? Let us know in the comments below!