Had lots of vendors approach us in Battery Park near the ferries to Statue of Liberty.

I've heard Canal Street has lots of "knock offs" on everything!

Can't help but jumping in here. Four years ago in Thailand I bought 2 Rolex for $25.00. The girl who sold them to me said they were "genuine fakes". Her words exactly!!
One still keeps perfect time.

John, wouldn't it have been terrible if you had ended up with an artificial fake?

I've been approached by lots of people selling watches along Fifth Avenue -- I've never looked but assumed they included fake Rolexes. No?

Canal St is the best area - although the police have been cracking down on the "real" fakes - that is imitations designed to fool the foolish - with very high fines and closing down the stores.

My friend has a $10 Rolox (note the second O to avoid charges of stealing brand names) that he bought there some years ago - and still works fine. But don;t pay more than that - most stop working in a few weeks.

Canal Street, between Mulberry & Broadway. Multiple vendors, dozens. Be sure to haggle on the price.

Better selection than buying from a guy on the street with a briefcase.

On Canal St. you will be approached. Make sure you bargin with them and don't be afraid to walk away, someone else will approach you with the same merchandise.

If your watch stops working, simply replace the battery. (I've replaced batteries that cost more than the watch.)

Enjoy!

My son bought his in Times Square. Very fancy!

I work across the street from Battery Park, and I have bought a few watches there over the years. Just look for the men carrying the briefcases. You can usually get them down to anywhere between $10 and $20. I've had one for several years, paid $10 for it, and have just had to replace the battery once.

Recently I watched a news report (HDnet for those who care) that claimed that proceeds from many of these street vendors selling fakes from handbags to watches to sports merchandise outside of the stadiums come from drugs, organized crime and yes even terrorist groups. They stated that while the vendors themselves were not generally crooks that the suppliers of such goods were NOT on the up and up. I know I will think twice before buying from them in the future! Just thought I would throw that out there!

Panhandle is correct; there is a link between terrorism and organized crime and these fakes. After learning of this connection, I personally stopped buying them.

Please, give us a break with that tired, alarmist refrain.

I see hard-working immigrant families selling goods on Canal Street, not "terrorists" and "drug dealers." (Yet another reason to buy from vendors, not briefcases.)

I get about 20 "Rolex" offers in my email each day-- would you like me to forward to you?

;-)

Lynne if you get to forward the Rolex messages from email then I get to send on the email for the genuine fake Viagra and other drugs as well!

Canal street at the corner of Broadway. Start there and walk in either direction. You'll know its a great fake if you say "I'm looking for a womens rolex." have a style in mind. then watch the man/woman disappear, and come back with it in a small black bag. he/she will ask you to go into a doorway to inspect the goods. you'll pay about 40-75 for a good one. remember to look for the sweeping second hand!

Gekko, it isn't alarmist. I don't exactly believe everything my goverment tells me, but a simple google search will turn up hundreds of articles and reports, Interpol and other agencies, describing the links from the counterfeiters to groups like Al Qaeda and Hamas. The immigrants you see on the sidewalk may not be terrorists, but you're too smart to think that they're getting the stuff from legit factories. Anyone who wants to go down on the street to buy the fakes should at least take five minutes online to research for him/herself.

Define "legit factories".

Counterfeit goods usually come from China, from the exact same factories that make the real items. Real Rolex watches aren't made in factories at all, but all of your fake-o Nikes and Ralph Laurens and Oakley sunglasses come from the exact same place the real ones do. The Chinese don't believe in intellectual property. Sure, there's no quality control, but there's no quality control on anything these days.

These fake watches are roughly the same as any number of "legit" watches sold as Fossil or Timex or what have you.

A real Rolex vs. "fauxlex" is easy to tell by the sweep of the second hand. (Mine were easy to distinguish by the fact that the hands fell off after a while, but they each have lasted about 2 years.) Plastic sunglasses, however, seem to be no different from their plastic "real" counterparts.

I knew that I was going into the murky waters of factory conditions overseas, and yeah, that's true, conditions and quality etc. But regarding the link to terrorism: I have read some articles that there are a lot of fakes coming from factories in North Africa and Pakistan, the profits going through mosques and into groups like AQ. I'm not making it up, I'm reading it in papers like the Times of London. As far as China not respecting intellectual property, not sure that is relevant here. Nor is the question of quality. Again, I don't like to preach, but I didn't know about these links until someone on these boards mentioned it. I like to mention it when it comes up, which is roughly every 6 months, and encourage people to do their homework before buying.