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Location: Blogs ATG Vintage Watches |
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| Posted by: ATG |
20/12/2006 12:48 |
We all know how great the internet is for selling stuff, buying stuff (great value), getting information, sharing information and just generally getting out there......... But there is a sad side, and I don't mean 'porn' sites everywhere but I mean the insidious 'money for nothing' people. The spammers, the guys designing software to read your key strokes so they can steel cc details, the virtual criminals, all so petty.
Now I came across something the other day that is quite sad!
I was in London and I went to see the guys who now own Silvermans, site here: http://www.silvermans.co.uk
they are a military surplus shop and wholesalers. They sell everything from webbing to Avirex jackets, to sleeping bags, just your whole out door life type supplier and some of it is military.
Well they had been selling CWC watches for many years, CWC for those who don't know are the Cabot Watch Company site here; http://www.cwcwatch.com/
CWC came about in the early 70's to supply watches to HMS Armed Forces. All specified, for pilots, fast jets and heli, diver watches for Marines and Special Forces and just your regular mil spec grunt watches. All really good quality.
  This Diver replaced the Rolex 5513 Submariner while this model is standard 'grunt' watch issue!
Well the Silvermans guys came to an arrangement with CWC and ended up buying them out to continue selling their great time pieces that Silvermans had championed for years.
Well now and here is where it gets sad, there are a couple of websites on the net, claiming to be the 'real' CWC watch company and basically stealing the brand's name. The CWC watches are either issued or sold direct through Silvermans.
Anything else (the one I have I bought from a fellow collector, but is one of the old Silvermans ones) is 'not' a mil spec watches and is in fact a fake version of the CWC watch. Richard and Malcolm from Silvermans are 'real' enthusiasts of this great little British watch company, there where in fact both wearing them when we met.
I didn't get all of the gritty details but I will add to this post. Apparently the watches are Chinese and are being sold in to the UK as British made milspec watches. What a cheek!
When the guys tried to find out more about these fakers it was discovered that they were registered in Belize, ah! Belize that well known watch nation!!
So anyway, beware! From now on if it wasn't from Silvermans originally and it wasn't issued then it is a 'fake'!
You will find there guide for checking autheticity here! http://www.silvermans.co.uk/cwc/beware.htm
Make a comment to show support for this small British watch company!!
Regards
Alistair
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| Copyright ©2006 Alistair Gibbons |
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Comments (10)
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By Gary on
03/01/2007 08:52 |
| What a surprise !! China and fake watches, go together like bread and butter !! Silvermans = Genuine CWC !! |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By Steve R on
27/12/2007 02:32 |
i am on my way to buy a CWC watch frrom Silvermans on th 02nd Jan after scouring the internet and finding out you can only get genuine CWC watches from Silvermans. luckily i only live down the road.
(Result) |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By Alistair on
27/12/2007 07:26 |
| Result indeed! |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By steve l on
05/01/2008 21:48 |
| immitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery!I bought an MWC G10 because it was cheaper than CWC.The feel and movement of MWC is cheap indeed.If you like G10 watches and you buy any make other than CWC,it"ll always annoy you coz it"s not the real article.I"m not on commission,but a genuine,Silvermans-bought CWC is a brilliant watch!Accept no substitute. |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By steve l on
05/01/2008 21:50 |
| immitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery!I bought an MWC G10 because it was cheaper than CWC.The feel and movement of MWC is cheap indeed.If you like G10 watches and you buy any make other than CWC,it"ll always annoy you coz it"s not the real article.I"m not on commission,but a genuine,Silvermans-bought CWC is a brilliant watch!Accept no substitute. |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By steve l on
05/01/2008 21:52 |
| immitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery!I bought an MWC G10 because it was cheaper than CWC.The feel and movement of MWC is cheap indeed.If you like G10 watches and you buy any make other than CWC,it"ll always annoy you coz it"s not the real article.I"m not on commission,but a genuine,Silvermans-bought CWC is a brilliant watch!Accept no substitute. |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By uli s on
27/03/2008 10:38 |
Just some thoughts on this topic....
Product piracy is no good for normally bringing scrap instead of quality. But weren't we all paying our share to this when exporting knowhow, techniques & machinery to PRC, on the hunt for even cheaper ways of production?
Concerning CWC: don't they drive into a legal affair using that CWC logo? It's a 100 % copy of the classic Cortébert logo now owned by Omega. Even CWC as a trademark is protected for Omega (owner of Cortébert Watch Company).
Next question: a Shanghai based friend (swiss guy) told me that nearly all companies have their cases, bezels, hands and dials made in PRC. He is selling machinery (CNC) to some of that PRC companies (who are indeed mostly european-chinese joint ventures). So, what's wrong with these "fakes" if a high quality swiss quartz or auto is installed? The parts are likely the same but it is just not bearing some brand name, right?
And: compare an Aristo diver to a CWC auto diver. Might be sisters ;)
P.S.: thanks for this site, Alistair. Real enthusiasm is always a thing to admire. See you on EOT ;) |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By ATG on
28/03/2008 18:19 |
I agree but if China suddenly wants to breakdown all European brands which have been a hundred years in development so we can all have the same crap watches then i think that is dangerous.
And isn't CWC Cabbot Watch Company?
Good points, well made I think though! |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By Dave Arbon on
01/07/2008 20:46 |
| Omega got into a legal wrangle with a company in the U.K.selling a very good G10 style watch called Broad Arrow which Omega claimed they owned as a trade mark, thet did not have a claim on CWC or own CWC,s logo,most of the Swiss Army brand watches have China cases even though they state Made in Switzerland,world sourcing gets worse. |
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Re: What is wrong with the internet! |
By Simon Davy on
13/07/2008 16:39 |
| Anchor Supplies do genuine unissued ex MOD stock for £49.50 including UK postage. Many forces personnel get them here if they lose a CWC G10 that was issued! They are genuine, but they have been stored for a while. Anchor say that theirs have been serviced since storage. |
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