Casio continues to struggle with various models that are produced on the Chinese market, which especially affects the most popular G-SHOCK watch models. That is why the company is introducing various innovations aimed at protecting its products from piracy, which we will introduce you to.

How to distinguish?

So, let's start with the main innovation - an extended warranty from the manufacturer for 2 years. In April of this year, the manufacturer released new warranty cards, so if you, when buying a G-SHOCK watch, receive a coupon from the seller dated May 15 and it does not contain two warranty years of service, then you will probably have a fake.

Go ahead. Since Chinese craftsmen only care about the external similarity of their products, they often sin by the similarity of packaging. This is where you can catch them. First of all, let's pay attention to cardboard box, which must have a brand logo, a barcode with model numbering, a numeric module and words we do not understand on Japanese. It is also important for Russia to monitor the presence of the Rostest sign.

If the watch is packaged in a jar, then you need to pay attention to the quality of the material, since Chinese jars are made very thin and they bend well in your hands. In addition, hexagonal jars are often used for new watch models, which in fakes have the usual round shape characteristic of old watches. In such banks, the instructions with other documents are placed in a special pocket located at the top of the package, which must have its own personal number on the back (not the watch, but the jar itself, which is also numbered by the manufacturer). The color of the can may vary depending on the model and year of its manufacture. Type of original can:

What does a non-original jar look like? Thin walls, incomprehensible inscriptions, equally incomprehensible barcode stickers, various film inserts and cheap fixing foam inside. The instructions will also differ, both in their design and in the fact that in the original it is multilingual. This is what the non-original jar looks like:

Visual inspection

The next step is to inspect the body. Anyone who wants to know how to distinguish a G-SHOCK from a replica should be aware that:

• • All inscriptions on the body are cut out and covered with a layer of paint;
  • the buttons have a “bumpy” shape;
  • all inscriptions are written in bold font;
  • the markers on the dial are covered with luminescent paint;
  • the dial has a multi-level structure and bold, clearly visible inscriptions;
  • glass should be at least mineral, but not plastic;
  • all internal displays are working;
  • The back cover should be engraved with the model number and company logo.

The case should look neat, and it is better to check the correspondence of its shape and markings with a photograph of the original watch, then everything will fall into place. Of course, you can check the watch for special functions that fakes are not equipped with, but now we are talking exclusively about visual inspection, so we smoothly move on to the strap, which can also answer the question of how to distinguish a G-SHOCK from a fake. Type of original strap:

So, the original strap has clear protrusions at its attachment points, it is difficult to bend it away from the case, and it has a massive buckle with the brand logo made of metal. The shape of the buckle should have smooth bends, a wide shape and a matte surface. On the new watch, a branded tag on a thick silk thread is attached to the buckle, which displays the model number and name, as well as a barcode.

Bottom line

To summarize, the main factors of counterfeiting can be called:

• suspiciously low price;
• poor build quality;
• use of low quality materials;
• lack of packaging or packaging that will match the appearance of the original product;
• incorrect operation of buttons;
• lack of all functions;
• lack of a certificate of authenticity and other documentation.

Today, it is quite easy to recognize a fake, no matter how hard Chinese manufacturers try to achieve a perfect external resemblance, so an attentive buyer will immediately be able to discern a deception and bring the unscrupulous seller to clean water.

We consider it our duty to inform our readers that the Chinese are not sitting idle and continue to fill the market with copies of our favorite watches, which unscrupulous sellers pass off as originals and deceive inexperienced and gullible buyers, luring them with a favorable price tag.

If earlier Chinese G-SHOCKs were easy to spot, since their manufacturers most often counterfeited the most popular models of the GA series (models 100, 100B, 100GB, 110GB, etc.), today they have already taken aim at the top collections, trying to recreate the same aviators and models of the GW or GG series. We have already written a couple of articles about fakes and replicas (read and), and also talked about, but we believe that we still need to show examples of some fakes in order to reduce the percentage of disappointed buyers among our readers.

This is what the original models look like:

New fakes

So, let's get straight to the point and start looking at the Chinese G-SHOCKs that swept our market in 2016. Of course, all this “junk” is brought to us through AliExpress and similar stores, so if someone deliberately wants to buy a fake, then immediately look for the right model there and do not overpay to sellers who will still try to convince you that this is a replica of the original high class and it is worth paying exorbitantly for it.

Let's start, perhaps, with a fake, which everyone dubbed the “Sale of 2016” - the Chinese G-SHOCK GW A-1100. The quality and functionality of this model is absolutely no different from previous replicas. Everything is also of poor quality, but appearance- This is a pathetic attempt to somehow repeat the design of the original. This fake can be found in several colors, so to speak, to suit every taste.

And this is what the Chinese G-SHOCK looks like:

And here is an older model, also from China:

We would like to pay special attention to this model, which they are also trying to sell at a higher price, supposedly it has wider functionality compared to other fakes:

But the Chinese G-SHOCK GW-9200:

It’s clear that there will be more new fakes, but we tried to show you the most popular ones that can be found today on different trading platforms online. By the way, excuse me for the quality of the photos, you yourself understand where we downloaded them from, and the sellers themselves do not strive to provide high-quality photos for such goods, so that it would be impossible to discern a wild fake there.

What do all the fakes have in common?

And what unites them:

• frankly poor quality assembly;
• low-quality materials;
• fake and non-working screens;
• basic functionality, even if the model is top-end;
• fake packaging;
• location of logos, inscriptions and fasteners;
• carelessly applied paint on the inscriptions;
• yellow backlight;
• plastic glass;
• sticky buttons.

In general, all the signs remain the same, so it is quite easy to identify a fake even with a visual inspection.

We hope that this article was useful to you and now you definitely don’t want to buy Chinese G-SHOCKs for yourself, because this purchase is unlikely to bring pleasure, but disappointment for wasted money will sooner or later still come. Therefore, it is better to immediately aim for the originals, especially since now they can be bought at various promotions or sales. Good luck everyone and be careful when purchasing!

I thought for a long time whether to write this review or not.

Somehow it happened that the prevailing opinion on the site was that imitation watches are bad, that a Real Man (Guy, Boy, Man, etc.) should, absolutely must, spend at least a month’s salary on watches... in a word , stupidity began to prevail. And then, just after the holidays, the post office delivered a couple of parcels from China, with a funny watch, which I ordered purely to see to what extent the Chinese have learned to make imitations...

I’ll tell you right away why I use the word “imitation” - the term “fake” hurts the eye too much and predisposes readers to a negative perception of information, the term “copy” is incorrect - it doesn’t even smell like a copy... this is a unique product that only in places looks like other watches :)

OK. Now to the point.


It motivated me to order “Chinese junk” and “pathetic fake”. I desperately wanted to hold them in my hands, put them on my hand, and swim in the sea with them. And then I came across a photo of an imitation model GX-56 and I was lost :) I wanted them too :)
In the eternal struggle between reason and desire, in my case, desire won. And when I saw another one on eBay, the critical perception of reality turned off completely and all three purchases were made.

The watch arrived from eBay in a traditional yellow bag, wrapped in an incredible amount of bubble wrap - the tape was about two meters long.
The watch from Aliexpress arrived in a cardboard box, slightly dented and also stuffed with bubble wrap.
The seller on Ali, from whom I ordered both white and orange watches, delayed shipping for about two weeks, and when I started to remind him, he began to freeze in the style of “mine is yours, don’t understand,” but after promising to open a dispute, the next day magically the parcel arrived at the Chinese post office :)

After a month of waiting, I received both parcels on the same day and began to figure out what and how.
There were no problems with the gray and orange clocks; they are set up intuitively.
It looks like it's actually the same chip, because... standard functions - stopwatch, one alarm clock, hourly signal, fluorescent backlight, display of hours, minutes, seconds, day and month and day of the week.

Photoshoot:

Gray watch, prototype unknown, similar to Casio DW-5600.

Orange watch, prototype - Casio G-SHOCK GX-56 (King of G-Shock)

Comparison of watches on the wrist

The gray watch is made of smoky translucent plastic. You can't see the giblets, but something is visible there and that makes the watch look unusual. Dimensions 43.5x48.5x14mm.
The orange clock isn't just huge, it's HUGE! Very big. Dimensions 54x55x17mm.
The white watch is also large, but due to its rounded shape it does not look particularly large. Dimensions 50x55x16mm.

Of course, this watch runs on a CR2025 battery, there are no batteries or solar energy converters, and there is no automatic backlight. However, at that price they shouldn’t be there.
Also, there are no additional shock-absorbing inserts, which should give the watch additional durability. However, as practice shows, these inserts are mostly just a publicity stunt. See for yourself, here is a video where the LCD of the most indestructible G-SHOCK G9000 MudMan watch cracked when dropped from two meters per laminate:

The white combination hand-digital clock was very good.


Therefore, I will focus on the point that setting the watch is unintuitive and, in order not to poke around, I simply used video instructions on YouTube. .

The main difference between the imitations and the originals is a somewhat careless execution - the presence of a flash, a different texture of the plastic body, on the GA-100 model it is a vertically protruding speedometer needle (and in cheaper models it is generally drawn :)
In short, anyone who has held the originals in their hands will recognize the imitation immediately. But an inexperienced person can be deceived, especially if the watches are sold in tin cans.
I bought the watch “for myself,” so it came to me without jars, just in bags.

After a couple of days of twisting and turning the watch in my hands, I disassembled them all and made waterproofing, as shown in this video:

In principle, waterproofing could not have been done, because... The Chinese have already lubricated both buttons and rings, but there is Golden Rule- “If you want it done well, do it yourself.”

To summarize,
All watches are made of quite high quality, there is a factory silicone lubricant, so that the water resistance is 3ATM for sure, perhaps even 5ATM. Those. You can swim in the watch without water getting in. I don't know how the watch will survive the salty sea ​​water, but ordinary fresh water will not harm them.
Casio logos are present; it will be difficult for an inexperienced person to recognize the imitation.
Well, the price, gray - 3 dollars, orange - 8 dollars, white - 9 dollars.
for comparison, DW-5600 is about $65 on eBay, GA-100 is from $80, white ones are from $100. GX-56 - from $140, and orange from $280...

Well, of course, everyone chooses what they like. Some people save money and buy an imitation, while others don’t recognize anything other than the brand. I respect all opinions, but please refrain from statements like “KG/AM”, from comparisons “imitation VS original” and from statements that copies/fake/imitation are bad. I am sure that absolutely everyone is already familiar with these maxims and no one will see anything new in these arguments.

I will be happy to answer substantive questions.
I urge you not to feed the trolls! :)

UPD.
Well, what the opponents of Chinese watches had been waiting for happened - I came home from work and the children, having escaped the watchful eye of their mother, slammed the gray watch and began to play with it. I don’t know what they did with them, they are silent and hide their eyes, but the sound in the watch has disappeared. More precisely, it is there, but not in the form of a squeak, but in the form of soft clicks. Most likely the coil has failed. The piezoelectric element itself is normal. I won’t repair it, I don’t really need this sound, I still don’t wake up from it. But the fact nevertheless takes place.
Well, now we can start talking about how bad Chinese watches are :)