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Pirates
In recent years China has become manufacturer's heaven. Thousands of small and large shops churn out goods for billions of $$$ a year.
Some of the products are illegal copies of established brands like Nike, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Omega, and others. In Europe, buyers of such illegal copies face stiff charges.
Watches
In its issue from July 9 'Tagesanzeiger Magazin' reports on fake watches produced in Guangzhou/China.
The author meets Lin who allegedly copys every Swiss men's watch if one provides an original model and someone who buys at least 500 of the copies. It turns out that Lin runs only a small operation with one employee, a saleswoman. Lin does not design or manufacture the watches, she merely buys the components from a variety of component manufacturers and assembles them at home. Lin hires additional staff, usually young women, when business runs high. Watch assemblers like Lin sell their watches to dealers from Africa, India and the Middle East. Some of these watches may even show up in Moskow, Peking or Italy. Swiss watch makers are not threatened by the fakes which flush the market, but by the Chinese manufacturers who accumulate invaluable knowledge and crafts, claims the author. Who was afraid of Japanese cars, bikes and cameras fifty years ago? Only twenty years later the British bike industry disappeared. The fake Rolex in the picture lists for CHF 3.20, the original for CHF 8500.-. Please pay a visit to http://www.rolex.ch Shortcomings
Some of the shortcomings of the fake Rolex:
1) Bracelet from stamped sheet metal instead of ground and polished steel. 2) Cheap sheet metal lock on the bracelet instead of one machined from billet. 3) Bezel with minutes engraved instead of a tachometer scale. 4) Fake chronograph dial and no push-buttons at all. 5) Crown is far too small. 6) All hands are too short. Backside 7) Bottom is wrongly chamfered. 8) Typical Rolex flutes for opening the case are missing from the bottom. Your homework
1) Make a list of well-known Swiss watch makers and specify what kind of watch or clock they produce.
2) What metals and other materials are used in watch making? List the properties of these (Excel or Word table). 3) Which cutting tips are suitable for machining watch parts? 4) How does one become a watch maker in Switzerland? 5) Try to find out what a 'Tourbillon' is. 6) How much money would you spend on a watch? Try to find the price of the most expensive Swiss wrist watch. |
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