I was wondering who they were trying to copy on this one. Any guesses?

I liked the damaskeening on this one. Pretty neet for a Fake huh? (cheap)

The general opinion is that it may have been emulating Hamilton, Hampden or even Howard. Seems they were following the old Barnum maxim, "there's a sucker born every minute." Judging from the numbers of these that are still around, it seems he was right!

Ed,
That's what I thought too. Even though I knew it was a fake, they even posted it in the auction!!
That's so nice to see for a change!!!!!!

I liked the movement and thought I would toss it in with the others I have.

Anyone here foolish enough to collect them too?

I actually like some of them. Shocking to me too.

The other side is pretty bad though.

I thought they looked like all of the "H" watches, so you think they were on the money or what lololol (kinda)

What some will do for a sale!

Looks like the plate is torn or something!

Sheila, I have one Swiss Fake KW in my collection. I bought it because it was: Running, nice shape, and cheap ($10). If a Swiss fake is not running, I will not touch it, unless the case and hands are nice and useable, and again if it is cheap.

Tom

Tom,
Your right, the key word here is CHEAP!

I have them as a reminder of the fact that there are some crooks out there, and also just because some of them are actually unique.

I think it's so weird to see, to what extent they go to sometimes, to make a watch look like something it isn't.

Some are really something, some just make me laugh my guts out. I guess I'm learning watches after all, if I can tell they are fakes now and then.

I have also seen collections of them that are outstanding, clean and new looking and the pride of a collector. I tried to find the sites again, and have not had any luck, but I remember them as really beautiful back then.
I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder after all!

I had a collection of key wind 18 size Swiss copies of the M1857 Waltham. I repaired each of them, and so I got to know them from the inside. These watches were of better quality than the latter stem wind fakes. In fact, some of them were of similar quality to the American Watch Co. products they were intended to copy. A few times I was, at first, unsure if some of them were Swiss fakes or American products.

The stem-wind swiss fakes are another story. They are easy to spot and the poor quality is clear and obvious.

Best regards,
Greg

I posted this once before in the past, but this is a good spot too for a repeat. Sears and Roebuck used to advertise a 'Traders Watch' for those folks who were traveling salesmen and needing 'trading stock'. In the 1897 catalog I have, they had a watch that was plainly marked '21 ruby jewel' 18s watch on the plates, but they stated that it was a 7j that could easily pass as a 21j, and would be great for those men needing 'that extra 'boot' to make the sale'.....so companies as big as Sears were just as crooked and as eager a participant as the watch makers who made them on contract in the late 1890's.

Regards! Mark

Greg,
I sure wish you still had them, I would have loved to have seen them. I guess you really never know about a watch until you get inside of it.
I sure know what you mean about the really cheap ones too, man, after trying to even wind those messes, you want to toss the things.

Mark,
Seems a lot of companies did that. I have read that some were made to have watches for those that could not afford the higher end watches, so that they would have something to "Flash"

I have a few Fake watches, I got them on purpose, mostly because they were so cheap, but also because I wanted to have a look at a few of them.

Some are not that bad either.