"Fake Watches Are For Fake People" Anti-Counterfeiting Campaign To Launch Worldwide

The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) in concert with the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry have forged a provocative new anti-counterfeiting campaign to reach out to the public on an international scope.  "Fake Watches Are For Fake People" puts out a potent message concerning the considerable damage created by this illegal industry, and makes the point that complicit buyers are the number one reason such illicit businesses continue to thrive, despite the best efforts of luxury brands and governments around the world to defeat them.  

According the FHH, counterfeit watches are part of an illegal multi-billion dollar industry which accounts for between five and seven percent of all international trade.  The 40 million or so counterfeit Swiss watches estimated to be made each year outnumber genuine Swiss watch exports by a considerable margin.  The many negative effects of this fake luxury watch deluge include damage to the reputation of fine brands, and the resultant siphoning of valuable funds better utilized elsewhere for the purposes of protecting intellectual property.  The FHH also points out that governments lose out in tax revenues while fighting counterfeits, while titanic sums of money flow into the coffers of organized crime and terrorist organizations who prop up this globe-spanning illicit industry.