News Bureau

January 23, 2023

Vo Vintage: Fight Againt Counterfeiting, High-End Watchmaking Trends And Young Watch Lovers

The latest trends in the international high-end market, the new frontier of counterfeit products, the experience of the sector’s young protagonists. The past, present and future of watches played key roles at VO Vintage on the third day of Vicenzaoro January 2023 - The Jewellery Boutique Show. At the international gold and jewellery show, organised by IEG - Italian Exhibition Group and ongoing in Vicenza until Tuesday 24th January, the hot topics of the sector, between contemporary and vintage, are being discussed. Watch culture for enthusiasts and collectors at VO Vintage , the vintage watch and jewellery lounge open to the public, where visitors can purchase rare pieces of vintage jewellery and watchmaking until today, Monday 23rd January and follow events with the most authoritative national and international opinion leaders.

COUNTERFEITING: A 464 BILLION DOLLAR MARKET
Counterfeit products: a “market” worth 464 billion dollars worldwide, 134 billion dollars in Europa e 32 billion euros in Italy (OECD processing on 2019 data). «Counterfeiting is a scourge for the watchmaking sector. It is our duty to tell consumers about it and educate them towards a safe and conscious purchase» explained Mario Peserico , President of Assorologi, at the meeting entitled “Defending the passion from counterfeiting and theft”. «The end consumer often doesn’t realise the mistake when buying counterfeit products, especially since the web has become the main sales channel. It is the phenomenon of “hidden links”: posts on social networks that propose the sale of products, such as clothing, shoes, watches, with an internal code. When you click on it, a catalogue of apparently original but actually fake products appears. The price can be a warning. That is why it is essential that sales platforms do everything possible to eradicate the presence of counterfeiters». Bruno Bergamaschi, aka Giorgione , one of the most renowned watchmaking experts in Italy, added: «Counterfeiting is a problem that is difficult for enthusiasts to solve. The safest thing is to entrust in official networks or physical outlets that can give a guarantee, otherwise it is really easy to run into fakes, even for an expert. Blockchain technology is the only way to protect the consumer and also the brand». The event, moderated by journalist Silvia Bonfanti, was also attended by Lorenzo Lucchinelli, founder of Ipsum - Identity for luxury goods, and Lt. Col. Cosmo Virgilio, Provincial Commander of the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police).

WATCHMAKING: THE FUTURE STRATEGIES OF HIGH-END
The big brands of high-end watchmaking are revising their models with the aim of guaranteeing even more security for the market of enthusiasts and collectors. The talk “The latest trends in the international high-end market”, staged during the third day of VO Vintage was a useful opportunity to illustrate the market scenarios for the near future. Moderated by Michele Mengoli and Jacopo Giudici, respectively director and founder of Watchinsanity, the event involved timepiece enthusiasts in the company of Stefano Mazzariol, founder and CEO of Vintage Watches, Elvio Piva, founder and CEO of Tempus Padova, and Roberto Verde, President of the Watch Passion association. The foyer at Vicenza Expo Centre was the setting for an exchange of opinions on models and future distribution strategies for luxury watches, a debate on the relative impact on prices and the advantages for collectors and enthusiasts. The Rolex case and the Swiss company's strategies were central to the interventions, also in view of possible future launches of new models and collections.

YOUNG, EXPERT AND REVOLUTIONARY: THE SUCCESS OF JASPER LIJFERING AT VO VINTAGE
They know how to popularise and they know how to sell. They are enthusiasts and great experts, sometimes brazen, but they kindle winds of radical change thanks to disruptive communication styles and expertise in the use of social networks. The new generation of watch lovers, protagonists on the third day of VO Vintage 2023, welcomed for the first time Jasper Lijfering, founder and CEO of Amsterdam Vintage Watches, one of the most disruptive faces on the entire sector scene. The protagonist of the “Vintage game changer” meeting, hosted by Andrea Casalegno , watch lover, consultant and populariser and the man behind IamCasa, Lijfering told a story of courage, risk and passion that, thanks to Instagram, was able to uproot old paradigms and revolutionise fine timepiece communication. Even using extreme registers, if necessary. A one-to-one meeting that demonstrated how the future of vintage watchmaking is in excellent hands and how the young generation - although their value makes the definition reductive - knows how to transform the world of offering, telling and selling products, even in the universe of timepieces.

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