Real or Counterfeit? Buyers Had Best Be Aware

“Psssst. Wanna buy a copy watch? Rolex? Cartee-er? Pia-jet? Take a peek. Lotsa models. Take your pick. Cheap.”

Variations on this theme are whispered to prospective customers on street corners throughout Singapore, Bangkok and other Asian cities, where buying counterfeit watches and other luxury goods has been going on for years.

The chance to buy diamond-studded “Rolexes” for less than $50 is too much for many bargain hunters to pass up. If the glitter isn’t real gold, the neighbors won’t know. And if the timepiece unwinds forever after a month, Aunt Bea will still have been delighted on her birthday.

Copies of leather goods bearing Louis Vuitton, Gucci and other prestige logos, of Porsche sunglasses or Dunhill lighters, of Reebok, Nike and other labeled athletic shoes and big-name designer fashions are also big sellers.

Authentic Gucci, Vuitton, Cartier and other luxury brands are discounted 15% to 20% in Hong Kong and Singapore. However, even the discounted prices may still be beyond reach for status seekers with low budgets.

Check the Quality

At first glance, copies appear amazingly similar to originals, but the quality is often so poor that many are worth no more than a dollar or two.

Until recently, Hong Kong was the counterfeit capital, but crackdowns by law enforcement officials have sent sales of counterfeits underground.

Nevertheless, some hawkers still sell copy watches on Hong Kong’s crowded shopping streets, particularly in the Tsimshatsui and Yaumatei districts and around popular markets.

On Temple Street, a market open from about 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. nightly, and frequented primarily by Hong Kong citizens, sit hundreds of stalls selling a hodgepodge of casual clothes, household gadgets and Chinese comic books, copy watch vendors are often stationed mid-way down the fairway.

They sit beside small folding tables, their wares hidden beneath black velvet. Caution: Sales are cash only; no refunds, no exchanges.

For brand merchandise, stalls in Stanley Market and shops lining Granville Road or in other discount districts sell varieties of labeled clothes, accessories and leather goods.

Could Be Authentic

Stock changes daily, but bargain hunters might find YSL silk blouses priced at $15, Lacoste cotton shirts for $10 and Louis Vuitton logo bags for $40.

Some merchandise is authentic, with prices discounted because goods are irregular, remaindered or manufacturer’s overruns.

Copy merchandise, tucked in among originals, is rarely identified as such. Again, for $10 to $40, authenticity is rarely an issue, but check the seams, zippers and fittings to make sure that items are worth even their small price tags.

With some searching, you can find cheap imitations of trademarked computers and software, audio and video equipment, electronic gadgets, musical instruments and cameras in Hong Kong. Prices can be one-third the cost of originals, but make sure that equipment is compatible with U.S. standards.

In Kowloon, Sai Yeung Choi Street and Hankow Road shops are known for audio, video and electronics sales; computers are concentrated at the Golden Shopping Centre at 94 Yen Chow (or Yan Chau) Street in Kowloon. Comparison-shop for counterfeits versus best deals on authentic merchandise; guard against higher prices for counterfeits sold as authentic.

Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul are top sources for copy watches and leather goods, although sale of counterfeits is illegal in each city.

In Singapore, you may be approached by well-groomed, polite young men offering copy watches as you amble along elegant Orchard Road viewing authentic timepieces in glittering windows of the Hour Glass and other dealers.

In Bangkok, penalties for selling counterfeits seem less stringently enforced, so street hawkers loudly advertise copy watches outside top hotels, temples and other tourist sites.

Copy watches are sometimes sold openly in Bangkok’s shopping malls such as the Rajaprasong or Siam Shopping Centers, and at the Jatujak Road Market (open weekends from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Chinese-owned jewelry shops along Jawaraj Road sell 22-carat gold “Rolex” watch bands for about $1,023. The gold is genuine, the trademark questionable.

Copy leather goods with Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, Charles Jourdan, Lancel and other famous logos, particularly prevalent in Bangkok, are sold for $15 and up in a string of shops at Indra Shopping Center and other malls.

The selection is equally large and the prices are slightly cheaper at the exotic Floating Market at Damnern Saduak near Ratchaburi (about an hour from Bangkok). Large Yves Saint Lauren suitcases with wheels are $75, and roomy Charles Jourdan carryalls with shoulder straps cost $18.

In Seoul, shops concentrated in the Itaewon shopping district offer huge supplies of copy leather luggage, handbags and wallets for $15 and up, designer jeans for $8 and up, sports attire and athletic shoes for $10 and up.

However, Itaewon’s vendors are known to sell fakes as originals and charge more for them. When counterfeit vinyl Reeboks are marked “made of leather,” vendors insist the labeling is accurate. Even when buying cheap and counterfeit, it’s no fun to be taken. So buyers beware.

With copy merchandise so commonplace, many U.S. citizens return from travels in Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul sporting shiny Rolexes, carrying new Gucci luggage and/or wearing fresh-from-the-box Reeboks. It’s amusing to try to guess which of their branded goods are authentic.

Authorities keep more subtle imperfections secret in order to foil counterfeiters, but anyone can notice the obvious differences. On watches, sure giveaways are weight and the movement of the second hand. On authentic Rolexes, for example, the second hand sweeps smoothly. On copies, it jumps from second to second.

On counterfeit leather goods, handles are often plastic rather than leather. On fake Louis Vuitton bags, the leather trim is usually tan rather than deep brown, and the stitching is light yellow. On the real thing (but not on copies), logo-patterns are symmetrical at the ends, zippers are stamped YKK and rivets have the LV logo.

Counterfeiting is illegal. Those caught importing fakes are subject to penalties ranging from embarrassing delays to stiff fines and/or jail sentences.

In practice, though, travelers returning to the United States with a copy Rolex tucked away in the corner of a fake Gucci bag might be questioned, delayed, warned or chastised about importing counterfeits, but little else is likely to happen to them, especially if they have only one of each type of article.

Legitimate copyright holders--Cartier, Rolex, Piaget, Gucci, Vuitton, Dunhill and other manufacturers of oft-copied goods--spend millions of dollars lobbying for laws and penalties against counterfeit merchandise, assisting law enforcement agencies in locating and destroying counterfeit caches and prosecuting makers and movers of copy products.

Cartier, for example, has crushed fake watches under steamrollers along New York’s Fifth Avenue and burned phony Cartier initialed shirts (the company doesn’t even make such shirts), leather goods and boxes in a public square in Madrid.

Costly public relations campaigns caution consumers that buying counterfeits is illegal and that counterfeiters are crooks who cheat not only legitimate manufacturers but consumers, too.

The public is warned that copy products are inferior, come without warranties and may, in the case of counterfeit baby shampoos, birth-control pills, biomedical equipment, toys, electrical gadgets and other such items, actually be unsafe.