https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...0056/lot-e8f994fd-b52a-4d5f-9819-a6b200e096a2

I'm sure we've all seen these things doing the rounds... normally £5-£10 in a market near you.

Jacobs and Hunt have one in an upcoming auction, so I emailed them to advise that they were selling something that is in no way legitimate, to which they responded:

"That is why we have called it Omega style."

"We are selling it as a copy which is not illegal. Obviously please don't bid."

"It is just a copy as catalogued. We are not trying to sell it as anything else. "


What's to be done when an auction house is fully aware that they have accepted a copy/fake/replica, and are still intent on selling it?

On a personal note, the people who produce and sell fakes of anything should be strung up by their unmentionables...

 

I think you're right - I have a feeling that this is still illegal to sell...

So Trading Standards, and the local police force maybe?

 

Although it's not actually a replica fake, it is use of a trademark.

So.........

http://www.fhs.swiss/eng/stopthefakes.html

 

The seller may be subject to criminal sanctions for breaching Trade Marks Act 1994 and/or Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

I'm surprised any reputable auctioneer would risk it.

 

I wonder what it will go for since they are less than $20 USD on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Retro-Omega...984428?hash=item3f6ecec5ac:g:qF0AAOSwYIxYAi8qPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Right?

Next time I walk through Covent Garden I'll grab a picture of a vendor that always has these... in fruit crates... £10 each.

 

If my experience of Trading Standards is anything to go by they are absolutely useless. When I lived in East London a tyre dealer was selling tyres restricted to low speeds, for agricultural vehicles only, as regular part-worn tyres. It's hard to imagine many things more potentially dangerous and I reported them. What action TS took I don't know, but a year or two later they were still selling them. EDIT: Remembering more detail - they sounded like they were taking it very seriously and said they'd go and buy one to prove a case. That was the last I heard of it.

 

For starters, reply to their (unbelievable) answer with a link to this thread. Let them know the watch collecting community is exposing them, and that you're asking for options on how to stop them from selling that bastard concoction.

 

Trading Standards and Plod will definitely be a good start. They won't do bugger all. If you want results Esther Rantzen and "That's Life" will be your best bet. With the best will in the world nobody seems to give a Monkeys nowadays.

 

Send to Omega's legal department. It's their trademark and they should be interested in enforcing it.

 

As other have stated, how can they not understand the legal implications of offering this. I've got a sinking feeling that if it said Rolex on a watch they would not touch it. It's a one to one analogy.

 

You mean like this lot in UK auction recently

 

Anyone buying anything high-end vintage or antique at auction who relies on the auctioneer's description is living in dreamland. If you know anything about the subject (in my case, a little about watches and a bit more about arms and armour) you very quickly learn that it's caveat emptor all the way. The same thing applies to fine furniture, art, etc. Taking anything on trust that your own observations don't back up usually ends in tears. EDIT: Oops, I seem to have gone a bit off topic here...

The seller was still offering the tyres as suitable for road vehicles and thus still putting people's lives at risk. That comes under the Trading Standards remit and they failed in their duty to stop it.

 

"We are selling it as a copy which is not illegal. Obviously please don't bid."

Uh...that's not how it works.

 

Ooof well doing that and then seeing it on the forums well there goes part of their bidders now and in the future bad mistake. If I had dealt with them at all I would give them a heads up in case they were unaware and may harm future business. I have found being an auction house doesn't always make you an expert.