Horolonomics

There comes a moment in the servicing of a watch that is probably easy to miss among the hundreds of steps required to remove a movement from a case, inspect the parts, repair anything amiss, lubricate all the pieces, and put the whole thing together again. A watch that Rolex's investigator bought at Beckertime for approximately $4,500. The lawsuit refers to this as "Counterfeit Watch One." That moment is when a watchmaker takes the dial and reattaches it to the movement. There is nothing particularly unique when it comes to the tools required or the tasks involved in this step. Instead, what is unique about this moment is that the watchmaker holds in their hand a mark that is not the property of the watchmaker and it is not exactly the property of the watch's owner. In the case of Vacheron Constantin, that mark is a Maltese Cross. For Audemars Piguet, it is the brand's initials. When it comes to Rolex, the mark is a widely recognized crown. If the reassembly

When Ben Madison chose Big Daddy Watches as the name of his business, he unknowingly described the conditions under which preowned watch dealers operate (Ben Madison is a fictional name to protect the identify of someone who is presumed innocent). An exhibit from one of the lawsuits showing trademark-infringing items which accompanied a counterfeit watch sale. Two recent lawsuits make it very clear: there is a Big Daddy, named Rolex, that stealthily watches independent watch dealers. Until I read the lawsuits, one filed against Madison and another filed against Dan Jenkins (also a fictional name), I had no idea how much effort Rolex expends when it comes to fighting fakes in the preowned market. So, I thought I would share what I learned. The Madison and Jenkins lawsuits show that there are at least two fronts along which Rolex fights counterfeits. In many ways, Rolex employs similar tactics regardless of the nature of the counterfeit. But there are also important government alli