New watch brands: Please stop selling Chinese Alibaba watches to western consumers by lying to them (Klein Watches, Korsch Watches & Pegasus Timepieces)
Wrist watches used to be special. Watch brands had a heritage people cared about and respected, some dating back to the 19th century. Most of these respected watch brands had unmatched expertise and knowledge about watchmaking, which resulted in amazingly durable, beautiful and valuable products. However, the watch business has changed fundamentally over the years, in a good and a bad way.
So, how has the watch business changed in a good way? First of all, newer watch brands have made beautifully designed and durable watches accessible to the average Joe. Anyone can become a watch enthusiast and create his own collection of pretty timepieces. 'Bang for your buck' has become a popular phrase among watch enthusiasts who hunt for good deals on amazing timepieces from all over the world, but mainly Switzerland and Japan. Rolex, Omega and Patek Philippe (and similar high-end Swiss watch brands) aren't the only respected players on the market anymore. We have brands such as Seiko, Jacques Lemans and lots of others who sell durable watches in all kinds of styles and price ranges.
But how has the watch business changed in a bad way? And I mean terribly bad. It has drawn the attention of greedy, money grabbing and savvy businessmen. Taking advantage of the cheap Chinese market, these businessmen who pretend to be fashion or watch freaks take your hard earned cash and give you an extremely cheap timepiece in return. How does this work?
Let's say you're a young guy who has taken an interest into fashion. You buy clothes you think match your style and try your best to look respectable. You realise that a watch is a great addition to your outfit. Moreover, the watch is something that draws more attention than your expensive designer shirt or pants, or even shoes. A watch is more than just a fashion accessoire. It's a mechanical machine that houses a complicated system, keeping the time accurately for you, the wearer. The combination of looks and complex inner workings always baffles me as a watch enthusiast and I'm sure it has the same effect on you. However, this beautiful business that has given people the opportunity to represent themselves for hundreds of years is becoming a playground for greedy people who want to earn easy cash. So let's dive into some brands I've come across on the internet. These are mainly Klein Watches, Korsch Watches and Pegasus Timepieces.
So, why do I mention these brands so specifically? The reason is they all sell/sold the same watch! The watch I'm talking about is https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2016-Hot-selling-Forsining-Classic-Gold_60462762764.html.
This is a pretty watch and has an automatic movement fitted inside a stainless steel case. It looks good, but won't work for long. So, a compromise must be made. You want a mechanical watch that looks good and is affordable. This one is a great option. It may not work after a year of regular use, but you'll be able to wear this watch temporarily until you find a really good mechanical watch that you would want to spend a few hundred bucks on. So, the compromise is that this watch is super cheap. It costs you not more than 12 USD a piece. You do have to order a minimum of three of these watches, but there are sellers on Alibaba who also accept orders for one unit. In short, you can buy and use a 10 USD watch on Alibaba until it stops working and until then you'll have saved up enough money to buy a 'real' watch. However, wait a minute. Look closely on the Alibaba page of this watch. It says "custom logo". That's right. The watch brands I mentioned above (Klein Watches, Korsch Watches and Pegasus Timepieces) simply buy this watch on Alibaba, smash a logo on it and sell it for approximately 100 USD (with a fake 50% discount to make you believe it is a great deal). In reality, you're spending 10 USD on the watch and around 40/90 USD on some weird unknown brand. However, these brands don't mean anything, have no value and definitely aren't reliable watchmakers/sellers. They are businessmen who're using your enthusiasm as a source of income. Free money to be precise. I wouldn't mind spending thousands of Dollars on a Rolex, Seiko or Audemars Piguet. I know they have been working really hard for decades to perfect their skills and create amazing timepieces. But what have Klein Watches, Korsch Watches or Pegasus Timepieces ever done except for buying watches on Alibaba and selling them on their webshops to get your 50 USD? Is it worth giving those people your money? I don't think so.
Here's the Klein Watches version of the Alibaba watch:
Here's the Korsch Watches version of the Alibaba watch:
And finally, here's the Pegasus Timepieces version of the Alibaba watch:
These watches are available in a wide range of colours (gold and silver ones are shown above).
After realising what these modern scammers are doing, I contacted them and told them about what I had found out. They didn't reply. After that, I realised these people have learnt how to scam people really well. So I took the debate to the comment sections on their Facebook page. Guess what? Comments are deleted and my account is blocked from their page. They simply know what they're doing, but don't want to face the truth in public. After multiple messages from me using fake accounts I created to contact them (because they kept blocking me), they gave up and removed the skeleton watch model (check the Alibaba link above to see the watch in question). However, looking at the website of Pegasus Timepieces: https://www.pegasustimepieces.com/collections/pegasus-watches/products/the-ebullience
Look at the logo on the watch. It says "Guanqin". That's a typical cheap Chinese watch brand name. You would think Pegasus Timepieces isn't trying to be a brand. It's just a reseller of watches. But looking at their about us page, this is what I see:
"Time is money; but your Pegasus Timepiece will make you look like money while keeping most of it in your pocket!"
First of all, this is the cheapest sounding punch line I've ever seen a fashion/watch brand use. But the most important part of this sentence is "your Pegasus Timepiece". They really are trying to be a brand. So according to them, a Guanqin watch is actually a Pegasus watch? But if it's a Pegasus watch, why does it have a Chinese name on it? Pretty obvious right? Instead of taking warnings from the community seriously, these brands just buy other cheap Chinese watches and utilise the same trick.
Klein Watches and Korsch Watches are better at hiding their true origins. Klein Watches was the only brand that at least put a 'K' logo on the Alibaba watch I shared with you before. The other brands haven't even bothered to do that. That's how much they care about 'their' watches: they don't. So how do you think they'll handle support tickets you send to them, because your watch suddenly stopped ticking? I think you know the answer already.
You may be thinking: "But doesn't Armani do the same thing?". Yes, Armani watches are Chinese watches as well. But they mostly use Japanese movements instead of unreliable Chinese movements and they have in-house designers that design their unique watches. They don't simply order an existing watch and put their logo on it. The three brands I'm discussing in this article are far worse than Armani watches (which I also despise, so I'm not biased towards Armani watches).
So, people, be aware of watch brands like Klein Watches, Korsch Watches and Pegasus Timepieces. They don't care about watches. They don't care about you. They don't care about fashion. They only care about your money. Stop giving your money to such people and companies. You're making a fool of yourselves and those 'watch companies' are laughing at you while you're thanking them for the 'great product' you've received.
And one last thing you should remember. What if, one day, you put your pretty new Klein Watch on your wrist. You visit your friends who are eagerly waiting to enjoy the looks of your new watch and you're eagerly waiting to show off your new pretty timepiece to them. And then, while you're proudly presenting your watch to them with its pretty Klein Watches logo on it, your friend puts his wrist in front of everyone's face and shows his own watch which is identical to yours, bought from Alibaba for a fraction of what you've spent on it. How would that make you feel? It won't be good, I guarantee you that. You'll look like a fool who has spent his hard earned cash on a 'K' logo. The logo of a meaningless brand.
If you want to do something about this, find the Facebook pages of these companies and share this article on their comment sections. Maybe they will finally start caring about watches and customers instead of running fake watch brands.