thread- I have an original JBC Komfit with its 19mm horned endlinks and never would wear it on a speedy (despite the NASA thing)-
Does it say “Bulova” on the dial? Obviously not - I’d think we can all move on past that immediately.
Is the watch obviously and intentionally attempting to directly replicate the Bulova up to and without crossing the line of being illegal? Of course. In this context and sense, it is “trying to be something it isn’t.” To suggest otherwise seems an equivocation.
No doubt, opinions differ widely on knock-off/homage watches and watch parts; and there are probably good arguments for why someone shouldn’t care that a watch is a knock-off. But to instead equivocate that it’s in effect not a knock-off in the first place seems an odd maneuver.
Courses for horses…
I’ve seen mentioned several overlapping rationales for keeping OF a replica/homage free community. Among them, that such watches are distasteful to some (raises hand), they are a slippery slope toward grey areas of illegal/counterfeit watches and lines must be drawn somewhere with some arbitrariness unavoidable, they’re largely not very interesting (after all, that’s why they’re trying to be something else), and there are other communities where people can go to scratch that itch and OF need not overlap/compete in that space. There are probably others.
As for trademark/IP, one need not worry about getting to or losing in court to still prefer to avoid even the spectacle of the threats and leveraging that precede litigation. Should citizen take offense to this watch, both Forstner and Fratello will likely receive letters that are uncomfortable. Letters that will, as we say in the disputes world, make clear that “you may beat the rap, but you won’t beat the ride.” Alone, this possibility of litigiousness may not be reason enough to view dabbling in the space as a net negative, but combined with other independent reasons (like those mentioned above) it just seems to pile up.
Incidentally, all of these considerations against dabbling in this space must have also been on Forstner’s minds - and I could imagine another “homage” watch that might have made it all “worth it,” to them - but this sure isn’t it.
Your views are well known. Some people disagree, me included.
If you want to go down the road of indicting (figuratively) every brand that has copied something from another brand, they are all guilty of it.
Okay, that’s fair, but there are degrees, no?
I have two Forstner komfits. Pretty cool for the price; but, for the watches I mist want to put ‘em on, I do get a bit timid about the potential for lug hickeys
Okay, that’s fair, but there are degrees, no?
OF has from the beginning disallowed the inclusion of this sort of legal-needle-threading “homage” watch; many such “homage” brands aren’t discussed here for the same reason this watch shouldn’t be. There is not a “Streinhart” forum here, intentionally.
So you are pointing out that this type of watch is not allowed to be discussed on Omegaforums and complain about it being discussed, while you were the one who started the discussion?
In case there’s any confusion, my post is intended as emphasizing the disappointment in Forstner (and Fratello, for that matter) in line with the intended spirit (and rules) of OF … [disallowing discussions/selling of fake watches]
But with this watch, they really shit the bed among hard-core collectors by trying to make a repro of a very beloved watch and not even executing it very well.
Back to the subject of this thread- I have no issue with “homage” watches as long as they don’t brand them to be complete fakes
There’s much debate around the line between “fake” and knock-off/homage watches; by my views on the latter are in the spirit of my views of the former.
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Still with you, completely.
Here I wonder how consistent we all are in this, between all our various interests?
I’m very much into vintage modern furniture, as well as modern-day modern furniture. Several friends are in the industry as designers, retailers, etc. The designers are artists and creatives, who - like all designers - are informed by their predecessors, etc. When I see their pieces being copied and sold en masse, it saddens and maddens me for the designers; likewise, it devalues/undermines the merchandise of my friends in that retail space.
And if I were on a modern furniture collector’s forum that turned to regularly discussing (except if disparaging) or supporting legal replica furniture designs, I would find a new forum.
And you, @JwRosenthal ? If you were on a vintage [cologne forum] that began increasingly discussing and supporting [legal replica scents], would it turn you off of the forum, or is the metaphor broken for you there?
It is an interesting idea to colab with Bulova @JwRosenthal, but they already did it. It was called the Moonview and had a smoothly sweeping quartz movement.
Yikes, talk about missing the mark! They really have nailed the most recent 666 reissues and the LE versions even come with Swiss movements so can legit say “Swiss Made” at the bottom. The new diver they put out looks great- I hope they take another stab at this one with a true GMT feature.
