I don’t know if Gazillion is really a word although I’ve heard it a Gazillion times over the years and my thought is; it must be a hell of a lot! But a Gazillion could easily describe how many accessories women have. My girl has over two hundred pair of shoes (she’s shopping for shoes today) and I make sure she donates at least fifty pair a year. I don’t know how many bangles, rings, necklaces, sun glasses, handbags, earrings etc. she has, but it’s a lot. Wait, I forgot to mention all that damn makeup everywhere, C’mon I say, the drawers are full of the mess.  And she has all but one closet for clothes in the house, you guessed it, the other is mine, but I argued relentlessly last week and copped another half closet. It was like pulling teeth just to get a little more space.

Who created this beauty thing anyway? I mean I do like a great looking woman and all, but I’m cool with nice looking too. Ok, forget about beauty from facial features and talk about beauty from accessories. As I mentioned women have more designs created to enhance their look that it’s somewhat ridiculous.

On the other hand, we men have nothing, nada, zero accessories to be pampered with and billions marketed at us is nowhere to be found. I forgot, they do spend billions to market to us, but it’s all on one product, a man’s watch! Yes, you heard me right, a man’s watch! We have this unique piece of accessory and place it on our wrist, and in one word (Yes!), it means as much to us as all those shoes, necklaces, rings, handbags, makeup, clothing and all that other crap that women buy so feverishly without much thought  to spend my ( her, your) money on.  

What is it that makes us feel so great about owning a watch? It’s very similar to owning a car or a great looking suit. And for many it has to do with how much you spend to own these items. I personally don’t think a person should spend more than they can afford simply because you can find a great looking watch at just about any reasonable price point. Let’s break down the options that most of us have for owning a nice quality timepiece.

Sport Watch: Diver’s and Pilot style watch designs are a huge hit amongst all age demographics. These watches tend to allow us a perception of adventure whether it is real or vicariously lived through. The most important thing is that it gives you a satisfaction and that serves the purpose. There are many brands and sport genres to choose from in all price ranges. And you don’t have to spend $500.00 or above to have a great look and quality watch. It can be worn with almost any attire, but casual open collar styles work best. Swiss and Germany dominate this manufacturing of brands. But there are many private label companies to choose from. 

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I have always been an advocate for opposing counterfeit or fake designs (replica’s) of branded named products. But this doesn’t mean I don’t understand the value of counterfeiting of course. Counterfeiting is big business; if you haven’t seen the movie “To live and Die in LA” excellent points are taken from this illegal business. Greed is one; making serious money without real working habits is another reason that drives this illegal industry.

Personally I’ve been plagiarized with my designs before by verbatim. This is where the seriousness of the issue lies. Everyone gets inspired from others and modifies this or that; we see it in cars and clothing and many other products as well all the time. But to make an item exactly like another’s is called faking it. To make a product exactly like another’s and including their name on the product is called counterfeiting. And this is where the real problem lies.

Many well established companies look at it from a positive perspective of flattery and I can see why, and I’m sure you can to. I’m a small private label designer trying to become more established, and when I saw my design verbatim with another’s name on it, I felt like I was in the big times. Think about it, there are thousands of watch companies out there, and I was plagiarized, yes I had mixed emotions, but honestly, I was flattered to extreme excitement! I’m too small of a company to fight that off. But from a larger picture and living in a reality of business minded thinking, it sucks to say the least while holding back my tongue for more explicit expletives.

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