The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Whats the difference between a homage and a fake watch? Reason I ask is because I noticed that admin posts photos of his homage Panerai watches. Are homage watches just 'inspired' by the authentic version while fakes pretend to be the real deal? I'm not sure that I see a difference between the two. Can someone explain this to me?

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

To me, a fake is claiming to be something that it's not - put the name of the original brand on a homage piece and you have a fake. For that matter, put a name other than the manufacturers on any watch and it becomes a fake whether it looks anything like the original or not.

Homage pieces carry the name of the brand that made them, or no name in some cases. The styles are clearly from another brand but there are many, many brands that do that.

The litmus test has to be whether the knock off has the genuine brand name, logo, trademark, etc... In other words, the degree of intent to deceive and the associated trademark/copyright/patent infringement.

There are Homages with the name and logo of the homage manufacturer on the watch and "sterile" Homages which are simply devoid of any names or other trademarks.

But slap the Panerai name, etc.. on the dial of Admin's homage and it crosses the line to fake.

My opinion only.


Edit - Dang Roff! I need to take some typing classes!!!!!!!

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SHARKMAN

I guess since this homage doesnt have the name Panerai or Luminor on the dial then it's not considered a fake by your descriptions...BUT it's walking the line very very closely. Photo courtesy of breitlingsource blog.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

This would also be an homage as far as I'm concerned - http://www.steinhartwatches.de/en/OCEAN ... K,382.html

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SHARKMAN

Hell, half of the watches Steinhart makes are homages.

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

Here is an entire brand devoted to "sterile homages." http://www.helenarou.com/40mm-size-wat40.html

Ollech and Wajs is a big on homages but with their logo.

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SHARKMAN

this thing looks like a fake to me! could care less if someone claims that its a homeage or not. the person that made this watch made it to attract buyers that like the panerai look.

edit - they say "imitation is the best form of flattery." to me this watch posted is a cheap fake.

Yes but without the Panerai name and/or logo it's not a fake. I agree with Sergio that this one walks a very fine line, but it's still not a fake. I'm not generally a fan of homage pieces myself as I'd always want the real thing, but I definitely don't have a problem with them ........ unlike I do with fakes.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I bought a couple of the mm panerai homages a couple of years ago mainly to see if I'd like the real thing. Even though there's a big homage market, especially for panerai, and even though they were good quality, I don't feel right wearing them. They've been sitting in my watch box and will probably remain there because I'm too lazy to sell them.

Btw, half of the Seikos sold are Rolex homages.

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Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

And ALL of the Invictas.

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SHARKMAN

And as Justin said, just about all of Steinhart are homages. I just can't see myself weird one; I like watch because of their uniqueness, what's unique about wearing a knockoff?

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

It's an inevitability of the industry - look at Ocean 7, they produce a watch that is virtually identical to the Omega PloProf and they even call it the PloProf. Heck their advertising compares the two.

Uniqueness is a double edged sword - by definition, the original isn't unique once a tribute / homage piece is produced.

Why would anyone wear one of these? Is it not simply saying I can't afford the real deal? I'm no snob but to me it would be far better going for a less expensive brand which has tried to make it's own mark in some way.

The only exception where I would 100% agree with Serge quote above is when the original brand is extinct - the brand is no longer active.

I totally agree with Woodman.

However, in my humble opinion or just my two cents a true homage is when the original brand re-releases an updated version of a classic from years gone by.

Example Panerai and their base/historical watches, IWC and the Big Pilot and the Mark series (non-chrono & non-UTC) or their Vintage Pilot Edition !

I am sure there are many others like Omega & the PloProf, the list can go for a very long time but you guys know what I mean.

Cheers,

Enezdez

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IWC - Big Pilot 5002 - 01
IWC - Pilot Chrono 3717 - 04
Panerai - 183
Omega - Speedmaster 145.012 / 67
Rolex - Explore II (Black Dial) - 216570
Rolex - Explore I 114270
Blancpain FF 5015