If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this falsified Fortis watch is pure adulation. Bet you can’t spot the fake.
The original Fortis-B-47 Calculator watch, which retails for $US3,950, is swanky but expensive — self-winding movement, water resistant to 660 feet, stainless steel construction, the works. The counterfeit — by Digital Time Co., Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand — is identical save for a few minute, albeit expensive, details. It lacks glow-in-the-dark face paint, has buffed rather than brushed crowns, and uses incorrect temperature unit symbols. “The expensive details are left out, but the first impression is the same,” says Christine Lacroix, managing director of Museum Plagiarius Solingen.
The forgery was so good that it earned the Special Award for a Falsification in the museum’s annual Plagiarius Awards. If you haven’t yet spotted the fake — difficult, I know — it’s on the right. Or is it the one on the left? [Museum Plagiarius Solingen via Neatorama]