A Fake Rolex

Street shopping in Rome is quite an eye-opening experience and if you journey to this most-interesting of cities I suggest you take a look at the street vendors, as Rome is certainly "Knock-off Central." Of all of the cities I've traveled to (including Hong Kong) here, on most days, but especially on the weekends, knock-off entrepreneurs seem everywhere, selling fake (but labeled as real) name brand clothes, pens, purses, scarfs, shoes, watches and more. The most incredible thing about it is many sell their wares on the same street that the actual (real merchandize) is sold, and yet it seems that the authorities just look the other way. Actually, on almost anything passively illegal in Italy, the authorities look the other way.


I collect watches of all kinds and over the years I've bought my share of cheap and expensive, real and fake. What's rather weird is that even though the knock-off watches are of inferior quality, I've owned a few of these replicas that have lasted for a quite a long time. I had one that ran perfectly for almost two years and I own a few that look exactly like (and I mean exactly like) a real Breitling, Bvlgari, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Tag Heuer or Rolex. Now once the battery goes in these look-alikes, it's usually time for the trash can, but at these very low street prices ($15 - $40) they can easily be replaced.


The street vendors (for sure) understand and speak English, and once you look at their merchandise, well the real fun begins and it's all about bargaining. For me, once I find a watch I like, I put it on my wrist, set the time and date and ask the vendor his price. Whatever he says I would never pay more than half. If he refuses to budge I simply walk away and most of the time the "dirty deed is done" as he chases after me in earnest.


A fake watch makes a great gift for any occasion, but I would encourage honesty to be the best policy when it comes to knock-offs. I once picked up a (very real looking) Rolex on a street corner in Florence, had it wrapped very nicely (box and all) and gave it to a friend of mine in Texas as a gift. In the bottom of the box I put 30 dollars. He opens the box and loves the watch, I mean really liked it. "Is this real?' he asked. I didn't answer him and he continued to rave about. "God, it sure looks real, so is it real?" Finally he spotted the cash and asked what the money was for. "Well," I replied, if this one ever stops working you can use that money to buy another one." He laughed for the longest time.


Ciao from Rome!