The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Thanks Rof, so should I just send it in like that with a blank warranty book and work it out? Another AD offer to send it in for me for $100. I am just concern that Breitling will make a federal case out of this and for rel "keep the watch"

See above. Don't worry about them keeping the watch. Whoever told you that either is an idiot, or is trying to bilk you out of $100.

The AD has no right to charge you to send the watch in.

I would contact BUSA directly and explain the situation - I suspect that they will be more than happy to help.

There actually is an occasion where Breilting could keep a watch, and that's if it was a fake. I'm not sure of Breitling's stance but I know that if Rolex receive a fake watch, they have been known to give the owner a choice - either they send it back to the owner and start legal proceedings against them for breach of copywrite, etc, or they offer to retain and destroy the fake "on the owner's behalf", and therefore forego the need for legal action. Not much of a choice really!

But in this instance, as long as the watch is genuine (which it certainly sounds like) then the OP will be fine.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Thank you all... I am going to miss this watch, I know it takes like 6-8 weeks to get it back...

By the way, a little off topics but since there are so many Swiss watch pro here, any of you guys have a comment about a Glycine Lagunare limited? I have a friend of mine selling his watch number 076/200. It's a nice looking watch but just don't know much about Glycine.

I was presupposing the watch is legit. However, that's an interesting story about Rolex, and it raises some legal questions. Someone who possesses a fake didn't create it, and thus didn't infringe trademark or copyright - or patent, or anything else. Fake or not, it's still personal property, and I'm not convinced Rolex has a right to take it; they're not the police. Of course, according to your story, they're not forcefully keeping it. They're doing it as a "courtesy" to help the owner avoid their legal wrath. That still sounds far fetched. What's the cause of action, provided they're not able to prove the owner made the watch? I'd have to research the issue further, but as far as a I know, selling a fake is illegal; merely possessing one is not. That story strikes me as potentially apocryphal, designed to strike fear in the hearts of would-be fake buyers.

It could well be an urban myth, but I have heard of that more than once. (Of course just because I heard something more than once doesn't make it true! ).

And even if it is true, I agree with you that it might be tough for Rolex or any other manufacturer to prove anything substantial in a court of law, but honestly, who's going to go up against a multi-million dollar company like Rolex in a court of law for the sake of a $300 fake watch? Sure (and again, IF it's true) Rolex may be just rattling the saber, but it's a pretty hefty saber to rattle and not one that I'd be willing to take on!

Personally I wouldn't be surprised if it was a true statement from Rolex - after all, they are asking the owner if they can keep it, not impounding it like the police would do. And as I say, would you fancy saying, "No thanks Rolex. Please send back my $300 fake and I'll see you in court". Errrrr, I don't think so.

However, in terms of where you say "selling a fake is illegal; merely possessing one is not" - well, that varies from country to country. In some countries it's certainly illegal to buy a fake - and by extrapolation to own one. Here in the UK it's illegal to sell them but not to buy and own them...... at the moment.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I don't think my watch is fake... I follow you guys instruction on the other posts and inspected the watch carefully when I got it. The only thing missing is he purchase date and dealer's info filled in the warranty book. So is it ok for me to send it in the way the watch is right now? also I think I need to write some kind of letter don't I?

I'm sure your watch is fine, andyn164. I've not looked at the eBay thread, but others will have and they'd say if there was a problem. We were just going a little off-topic here..... sorry!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

The watch is real - I checked the eBay link that you provided.

Just call BUSA after Christmas and see what they ask you to do - a written explanation won't hurt, but if you talk to them I suspect that things will be fairly straightforward.

I worded it that way on purpose, with the understanding that purchasing a fake in some countries might be illegal. But mere possession, without proof that the owner purchased it? I suppose there might be some jurisdictions that draconian, but I sincerely hope I never live in one. Who's to say it wasn't a gift?

Well, if it's their standard practice to hold onto fakes when they don't have the right to do so, I might be able to turn that into a class-action suit. But assuming they will return it, only with an accompanying threat of legal action, I wouldn't bother to sue them unless they sued me first. If they have a bogus cause of action, and are just using the courts to intimidate me, that would give me pretty good grounds for a countersuit...maybe. I'd have to research it further. Right now, I'm just talking off the top of my head - or possibly out of my ass.

Well I'm not a lawyer by profession - just relaying what I'd heard/come across in the past. If you want to have a look into it, I'll be very interested to hear what you unearth. Here's an interesting link that goes some way to support what I'd heard, albeit when someone attempts to sell a fake - http://www.lawknowledge.org/consumer-law-fraud/93202/

The fact they have a law firm prepared to fire off emails to private individuals on eBay would certainly suggest to me that they'd not be overly inclined to return a fake that actually sent into them, without a fight. But anyway as I say, law isn't my profession, so I'm more than happy to defer any digging on the subject to you legal bods!

I'll be interested to know if you find anything out.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Interesting. Did you, by chance, see the responses? Sort of emulates what we were talking about here, huh? The fact it was someone trying to sell the watch is a good distinction, but I think you raise a good point that if that's Rolex's position, they might well try and enforce it if someone just happened to submit one to them for service. Like I said, it's an interesting legal question, namely: In the name of protecting their intellectual property rights, does Rolex (or any other company) have the right to seize someone else's personal property? Or, perhaps more to the point: do personal property rights vest in an object that was illegally made in the first place? But what about it is illegal? The object itself isn't, only the use of the logos.

Hmm...the more I think about it, the more it makes my head spin. When the holidays aren't pressing upon me, I'll look into that more. Thanks for the link.

Merry Christmas, by the way.

So I found an authorized Breitling service center in San Francisco, CA, the closest one from me. They are called J.D Watchworks, should I send my watch to them or to the main office in CT? Thank you very much for all your help with this guys.

As I said to the same question in PM, either works.