Paris:
The trial of a Frenchman accused of making millions from selling luxury fake watches is putting a spotlight on an extensive trade in lucrative replicas around the world.
Julien V., nicknamed 'the Prince of Fake', has openly admitted to running a fake watch network in France from Thailand between 2019 and 2022 before he was arrested.
He told investigators that contractors in China produced up to 10 watches a day for him – most of them counterfeits from luxury Swiss brand Rolex – resulting in a total sale of 12,000 watches for a turnover of three million euros ($3.3 million). .
However, a watch expert quoted in Nice-Matin newspaper, Michel Vittini, said he believed Julien V. sold “at least 50,000” fake Rolexes.
Some of them appear to be virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, with Julien V. claiming he could “make it completely real or completely fake” depending on “what makes the customer happy”.
A credible Chinese-made Rolex replica cost 500 euros, rising to 1,300 euros if it also had double the real serial number engraved on it, he said.
For 6,500 euros the watch had an original automatic mechanism, and a custom-made movement from completely original parts could cost up to 60,000 euros.
Genuine Rolexes cost around 5,000 euros to over 70,000 euros and maintain or increase their value on the second-hand market.
According to French media, the high-quality counterfeits attracted the attention of Swiss watchmakers who hired private investigators.
Investigators captured Julien V. after arresting some of his online resellers.
He has been on trial since last week and is in charge of his own defense during the trial, where he faces an army of lawyers for half a dozen Swiss luxury watchmakers who have filed a civil case against him.
Julien V., born in 1994 in the city of Nice on the French Riviera and a former pizza deliveryman, said he was a millionaire by the age of 25, had stashed away 4 million euros in the cryptocurrency bitcoin and owned a Lamborghini. as well as several properties in Thailand.
He accepted orders via WhatsApp and shipped the watches first to Germany to avoid attracting the attention of French customs, and then to France via the open border between the two countries.
One of his co-defendants, reseller Florian R., said that he would buy fake Rolexes for 200 euros and sell them for 400 euros.
When asked by the chairman why he did not charge more, Florian R. said: “These are forgeries, I do not deceive people.”
The verdict in the trial will be announced on March 20.
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