Counterfeits? No, thank you

Did you ever buy something at a bargain price and wonder to yourself if it is the real thing?

Sure, you did. We all have.

Or didn’t you?

It doesn’t really matter whether you did buy or didn’t buy it, what matters is that counterfeits are all around us and sometimes they are not at all easy to spot.

Most of us want to fit in; most of us do not like being left behind so we try to find a shortcut in achieving what we want.

Let’s take this as an example: My best friend just got a new awesome, very expensive watch, it is a lovely watch; I want one too but I can’t afford it… what do I do? You can just be happy for her and share in her happiness, you can work harder or put it on your birthday or Christmas wish list or you can run to the market and pick up a fake… you can do all of these but please don’t go with the last option!

Counterfeits are illegal; they can endanger your health and safety, they support organized crime and very often underground labour, if they pay a fair salary then they would have to charge more.

It would be nice to always have all the things we want to buy but unless you hit the jackpot in the Lotto it is probably not going to happen. Islands, 100 foot yachts and Lamborghinis are out of reach for most mortals.

I never understood why having the right label is such a big deal. Yes, they are some brands I like and given the choice I would buy most of the time but if I can’t afford something I just look for something similar with a lower price tag.

I remember a few years back my cousin took a trip to the Far East to meet up with my sister. He is admittedly one of those posh type, he loves his labels and most of the time gets what he wants, but there was the matter of a watch… he picked his dream watch which was totally out of his financial reach, he “studied” the watch every time he passed by the store that was selling it on the off chance that one day he will be able to buy it. Then he ended up in Bangkok… and there it was his dream watch at a fraction of the price. Knowing exactly how the watch was supposed to look he decided that this is a perfect counterfeit and no one would ever know. He bought it only to discover later on that the watch is not silent, it had a noticeably loud tick. Yes, it may fool most people with a glance but it is definitely not going to work as a show off piece in room full of “suits” wearing the real thing… the ticking will be noticed in any moment of silence. So you see… it is not worth it! No matter how much you think you can save, it is not the real thing and thus it will not perform like one.

If you ever ask me about counterfeits… my answer always will be “No, thank you”. I will find myself a real deal at the price that suits my budget.

I have a dream watch – Tag Heuer, which costs £3195 😦

No, I can’t afford it but I can afford something similar in look which will be a perfect alternative until I can get my dream watch.

What do you think? Will they make a great alternative?

* Post written in collaboration with The Watch Hut.
Source of all pictures: The Watch Hut.

Watches of today – timepieces, gadgets or a fashion statement?

A watch is one of these things we more than likely all own, at least one.

Its history started in 15^th century, the pocket-watch for the men and the wrist watch for the women… this changed though in the early 20^th century when wrist watches became the one to have, pushing pocket-watch into a faded background. This was then but what about watches today?

The watch was created as a timepiece; at first it’s main and only job, was to tell time… this is no longer the case in today’s digital world. Today we can buy a watch to suit a variety of needs…

Fashion Watches are principally designed with looks in mind. They are used to complete our outfit and are very often treated as jewellery. They can vary from simple, delicate pieces to more rich in colour or decoration – whatever you fancy I bet you can find one on the current market.

Teaching Watches are created with our youngest in mind. They are used as a teaching tool to aid time telling skills and feature more information than usually found on a watch. Different colours help kids to learn quicker and make it much easier to understand all the rules of time telling.

Sport Watches are here to help us achieve our goals. They might have functions like stopwatch, which will help the track runner or they can be water resistant, which might be helpful if you are a swimmer. There are even watches created for a space travel or space walks should you ever find yourself presented with the opportunity 🙂

Gadget Watches combine the timepiece abilities with other tools we might need in life. There are watches with a built in multi lingual data bank – how handy that might be at times where you find yourself surrounded by people speaking in a different language.

I think this list could go on being divided into smaller subcategories… the bottom line is: today there is a watch for every need out there… but do we really need it?

With mobile phones, or should I say smart phones, as well as other gadgets being commonly used by most people such as tablets, mobile media devices, even iPods all tell us the time, how many of us still wear a humble watch simply in order to tell the time?

Not many I am guessing, but… we still wear wrist watches, just for different reasons now 🙂  These days we wear it as a statement, for the wow factor, because it was in our family for generations, because it is cool to have a funky watch or simply because it’s a matter of habit! Today the watch is more of an accessory than an essential device to aid our coping with life, therefore it will probably never go out of fashion, and maybe you just need to upgrade it to a different model.

I personally love watches. They are such a great reflection of our personality.

Do you love watches?

Do you still wear it or is it somewhere at the bottom of your drawer?

To get a perspective on the mind boggling array of watch possibilities on offer now a days you could have a look at a website like The Watch Hut! I did and was shocked, amazed and now I’m saving….

* Post written in collaboration with The Watch Hut.
Source of all pictures: The Watch Hut.