French man sold $3.3 million worth of fake luxury watches

Paris:

The trial of a French man accused of making millions by selling fake luxury watches is shining a light on the vast trade in flashy replicas spanning the world.

Julien V., nicknamed the “Prince of Counterfeit”, has freely admitted to running a network of sales of counterfeit watches from Thailand to France between 2019 and 2022, before being arrested.

He told investigators that contractors in China made up to 10 watches a day for him – most of them counterfeits of the luxury Swiss brand Rolex – resulting in total sales of 12,000 watches, a turnover of three million euros ($3.3 million).

However, Michel Vitini, a watch expert quoted in the Nice-Matin newspaper, said he believed Julien V. sold “at least 50,000” counterfeit Rolexes.

Some of them appear to be almost indistinguishable from the real thing, with Julian V. claiming he can make it “completely real, or completely fake”, depending on “what makes the customer happy” .

The price of a reliable China-made Rolex replica was 500 euros, he said, which would rise to 1,300 euros if it also had twice the actual serial number engraved on it.

The 6,500 euro watch had an original automatic mechanism, and a custom-made watch made entirely of genuine parts could cost up to 60,000 euros.

Real Rolexes range in price from approximately 5,000 euros to 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 watch manufacturers, who hired private investigators.

Investigators called off the search for Julian V. after arresting some of his online resellers.

In the trial that has been ongoing since last week, he has taken it upon himself to defend himself at trial, where he faces an army of lawyers from half a dozen Swiss luxury watch manufacturers who have brought a civil case against him.

Julien V., born in the French Riviera city of Nice in 1994 and a former pizza delivery man, said he was a millionaire when he was 25, had 4 million euros deposited in the crypto-currency Bitcoin and owned a Lamborghini. Was also. As well as several properties in Thailand.

Accepting orders via WhatsApp, he would ship the watches first to Germany to avoid attracting the attention of French customs, and then to France through the open border between the two countries.

One of his co-defendants, reseller Florian R. Said he would buy fake Rolex for 200 euros and sell them for 400.

When asked by the presiding judge why he did not charge more, Florian R. Said: “These are fake, I don’t deceive people.”

The verdict of the case is to come on March 20.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)