Fake Seiko Watches - the rise of the Feiko...

Looks a bit like a Seiko but is in fact a Feiko...

There is a worrying trend on ebay of more and more fake Seikos appearing for sale. More worrying still is that ebay takes little to no action to remove them once informed. Strange for the auction site which is, by and large run extremely well and efficiently. Clearly counterfeiters cannot shift the blantantly copied Swiss luxury watches so have moved into the mid market territory, hence the rise of the Feiko. These watches will have crude Chinese movements instead of highly regulated Seiko ones. Now the Chinese make some fine movements but the problem will be in the fact that will not be oiled and then factory regulated which will give them a limited lifetime and dubious accuracy.

I suppose my real concern is that buyers on ebay think that they are getting the real deal and are being duped. If someone wants to buy a $10 fake Rolex from a market in Thailand then on one level at least there is some honesty in the transaction. Someone paying £100 for a Feiko is being right royally ripped off. Equally worrying, though, is ebay's unwillingness to act. Previously they have relied on their community to help police itself but seem unwilling  to stamp on the counterfeit Seiko watches.

Best ways to avoid a Feiko on the Bay:

• Buy from a reputable seller.
• Check their feedback carefully - have they regularly sold Seiko watches or is this a one off sale - they might not know it is fake (I know, pretty unlikely).
• Ask for the item serial number or make sure it is in the description - beware, this in itself does not guarantee the watch you are looking at is real, the number could be taken from a genuine watch.
• Have you seen a Seiko watch like it before? There are some excellent modded watches around that honestly state their use of new parts but the Feiko can look rather strange and different.
• Email me at contact@qualitytime.org.uk and I can give you a quick opinion.

The purpose of this is not to scaremonger. I believe Ebay is generally extremely well monitiored and is responsible in policing on the whole (I think this may well have more to do with huge law suits rather than inherent ethics). Thankfully the profit margins in making Feikos are generally too small for counterfeiters to pay much attention to and the Seiko brand will never suffer in the same watch as the luxury Swiss manufacturers