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Muscat: Fake products are like a disease afflicting the wristwatch industry worldwide, said a top executive in a leading Swiss watchmaking company.
"We as a watch industry are fighting against the menace of fake watches at both the levels, market as well as source," Roland Streule, regional brand manager of Rado watches in the Middle East, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a press conference to announce a distribution deal between Rado Watch's local agents Sahil Enterprises and Dubai-based Damas Jewellery.
Streule said that it was difficult to quantify how much damage the fake products were doing to sales of original products. "It is possible that those who buy fake products can't afford to buy the original so it is not a loss," he said.
He added that the biggest source of fake watches was China.
"We are working everywhere with the local authority to combat the fake products and in recent past we have confiscated several thousand watches in the Far East, including China," he said.
"If a watch is duplicated that means that product is successful," he added, in a lighter vein.
However, he stressed that the wristwatch industry, especially high-end products, are doing well, particularly in the Middle East.
"The UAE is the biggest importer of Swiss-made watches in the region followed by Saudi Arabia," he said, but was unable to provide exact figures.
According to him, visitors to Dubai form a large segment of the market for wrist watches in the UAE.
"There's a big floating population in Dubai and they are big buyers of Swiss watches," he added.
In general, Streule pointed out that the wristwatch market continued to grow despite other sources of timpieces mushrooming in the form of mobile phones, computers and car clocks.
"Timekeeping is not the sole reason for wearing a wristwatch, it is also a fashion statement," he said.
"A watch is like jewellery and as such, the wristwatch holds timeless appeal and sales continue to rise like never before.
"Contrary to popular belief, the introduction of computers and mobiles has not diminished the appeal of a watch," Streule said.
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