Hi all. Does anybody here know the difference between a real and a Fake Omega watch?

I may be able to help you with that. I own 2 fake watches and one real Omega. It is easy to tell them apart if you know what to look for.

1. Authentic Omega watches use a kind of substance called “LumiNova” on the dial, hands and even other areas of the watch which gives it a very specific luminous quality. Switch off the light and see the watch. If it glows, it is the genuine article; if it doesn’t, it’s probably a fake Omega.
2. Fake Omega watches are created in less than optimal conditions with little or no quality control. This results in some very obvious spelling errors. Just read every piece of text written on the watch – if there are any mistakes or typo errors, you can rest assured that it is a knock off. Genuine watches will never have such errors.
3. The third test requires either some kind of magnifying lens on best, a jewelers loupe – A counterfeit item will have sloppy finish, fuzzy lettering and even an unfinished look in some areas. Omega watches have the highest quality standards and can be identified as such.
4. In many cases, fakes have been found to contain smudges, stains, dirt, dust and even hair below the frame or glass. This is again due to the less than optimal conditions that they are made in.
5. Beware of all Omega watches being sold at supposed fire sales, inventory clearance or store closeouts – An omega is a valuable jewelry-like piece that no business owner has ever had to liquidate at below wholesale loss.
6. If the watch is being sold on an auction site, flea market, pawn shop or a street vendor, chances are that it is a fake Omega. Genuine watches are sold by well known and reputed dealers.

What I can tell you is that faked versions of vintage watches are rare. Popular current designs or the last season’s designs are most commonly `faked’; so that is something you may want to keep in mind when you are trying to spot a fake.

Some other pointers that you may want to consider are:

• Make it your business to get to know the real thing. If you can’t afford to own one, then browse through the store, ask help from the sales lady – inspect the packaging, the box and all the cards and documents that come with a real Omega.
• Check out the current / popular styles on the website. There are few, select pieces since these watches are not mass produced. But also understand that not all models are displayed on catalogues, websites or even retail stores.
• Check for features that don’t function – like the Chronograph that may have a non operating sub dial or stop watch function – that is a sure sign of a counterfeit.
• A fake Omega may also not have some very unusual and difficult to reproduce features like the helium relief valve.

The biggest alert to a fake Omega is usually the price that the watch is selling at. Too cheap to be true means it probably is not an original. No luxury watch sells under 250 dollars and no genuine Omega will ever be available at more than 50% off on its genuine price – such margins don’t exist in the real world.

You may want to check out hallofshame which has photographs which help identifying tell-tale features on a fake Omega. Some of the stuff they show includes:

• The loops on the numbers 9 and 6 are slightly open on authentic dials but closed on a fake Omega.
• The second hand has an arrow in the genuine piece; fakes may have a ball or some other design.
• The bezel insert also provides clues as does the type style of the numbers which could be too thick or too thin.
• Spelling errors in `certified’ and other text in fakes are common
• The word waterproof should have a flat top A and not a pointy one.
• Fake Omega hands have a much smaller lume area but thicker
edges than authentic Omega hands.
• Original Omega pieces do not have an outline on the date window while fakes often do
• Issue no. A/254/67 is a sure sign of a fake Omega.
• Numbers are positioned very close to the marker on a fake Omega.
• Also the `faked’ bezels don’t have any real lume and are therefore printed in yellow color to give the luminosity appearance to a causal observer. (Old authentic bezels often don’t glow but will still show some signs of glow if exposed to bright light)

I’ve also heard of imposter watches – what are they and how does one make them out?

There is actually a whole new category of counterfeit watches which are called luxury watch imposters. They don’t copy the name of any famous brand, instead they are sold using outrageous misrepresentations including fictional heritage and technology details. So in essence you buy a stylish sounding watch thinking it’s some exclusive brand in another country and what you are really buying is a very cheap watch which has none of the merits advertised. Some of the things that could alert you to such a luxury imposter are:

• Very impressive sounding German, French or Swiss names that you would have never heard of.
• Very impressive referred retail price of the watch box.
• Very fancy and stylish design as well as description which is what you see in usual luxury watches.
• Willingness of the seller to negotiate due to highly creative / circumspect reasons.

It’s the biggest con in the world. When the asking price is seen to be much below the printed retail price, consumers are lulled into a belief that they are getting a great bargain.

It’s how the sale mania works. Though of course, some sales are genuine, others are just 100% marketing bravado.

I know of some specific brands that play this game – Klaus Kobec, Krug Baumen and Monte Suisse – they all claim that they are selling at huge discounts; some of them even have impressive looking websites.

People just get so excited about getting a great bargain that they forget everything else.

Why doesn’t somebody take some kind of action against these imposter watches? Where do they come from?

That’s easier said than done. Plus, there is a huge market for these watches formed by people who want the image but don’t have the cash. In a way, these fake watches don’t really impinge on the real Omega market since genuine buyers know the difference.

I don’t want to sound like I am making any kind of generalizations but past data has shown that most of them originate from Asian countries.