Of course, it’s not just moped-riding watch thieves—there’s an illicit secondary market to be fed. Counterfeit watches are used in bait-and-switch scams where photos of a real watch are shown to a buyer who then ends up with the fake. The same trick is played on pawnbrokers, who are fed a string of legitimate watches before being duped by a knockoff.
According to a May 2025 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the global fake goods trade was worth $467 billion in 2021—the most recent data available—and accounts for 2.3 percent of all global trade, rising to 4.7 percent in the European Union. Clothing, footwear, and leather goods are the most commonly seized counterfeit goods, while watches rank fifth by quantity, and first, comfortably, by value.
A second OECD report focused on Switzerland found that, also in 2021, around $4.7 billion worth of counterfeit goods infringed Swiss trademarks, leading to a $3 billion loss in domestic sales. More than 40 percent of those goods, by value, are watches, with roughly 65 percent of seizures originating in China and Hong Kong. Overall, the global fake Swiss watch market equates to about 7.7 percent of the value of Switzerland’s legitimate watch exports, but with far lower production costs and sales prices per unit.
But remember, these figures are based on seized goods, not those that slip through the postal system unnoticed.
Imposter Syndrome
This should be black-and-white. Producing and selling counterfeit goods is a crime. The legality of buying, importing, and wearing them, however, varies by jurisdiction. Engaging in this industry can fairly be described as intellectual property theft, deceptive, and unethical.
One might question why buyers and wearers of counterfeit watches are pretending to be someone, or something, they aren’t. The options available for the budget watch collector have never been better. If they simply love watches, why not spend the same money on an interesting Seiko? Or, if a new genuine Rolex is beyond one’s budget, one of the brand’s certified pre-owned pieces offers an alternative to a collection of fakes.
The Reddit moderator we spoke to, who collects genuine luxury watches as well as replicas, says their love for these faux timepieces comes from being a watch fan. “I like the variety of watches that replicas allow me to have, and I like the ‘try before you buy’ that replicas afford me in some cases.”
Reddit’s own guidelines state that the selling or promoting of counterfeit goods may be considered a violation of the site’s trademark policy. The moderators of some other watch-centric subreddits have banned the discussion of counterfeit watches and parts, but for the communities reported here there seems to be little acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
In response to a request for comment, Reddit issued a statement to WIRED that says “counterfeit merchandise is covered by our Trademark Policy, which includes instructions for rightsholders who wish to file a report. We review and respond to all valid reports from rightsholders and take appropriate action on content that violates our policy.” Reddit’s Trademark Policy states that it “may ban users who repeatedly violate” it. “We may also ban subreddits after multiple removals of violative content or where it is clear that the subreddit is dedicated to violative content.”