So I have been into watches for some time and as such, my circle of friends are (sometimes painfully) aware of my interest. Some years ago I was given an obvious fake as a gift from a friend.
She gave it to me as a gift from her soon to be father-in-law who lives in Mexico City. While visiting Mexico, she told her FIL that she had a friend back in the states who was into watches and her FIL claimed to “know a guy” so she brought back a fake and gave it to me as a gift.
I accepted the gift and just kinda sat on it, not really sure what to do. I didn’t want to make her feel bad because her heart was in the right place but I also wasn’t going to actually wear it either.
Time marched on and I have moved away from that friend which makes it easier for me. My question to the community is how would you deal with an obvious fake being given to you as a gift?
On a totally unrelated note, anybody have any suggestions on the best way to dispose of a fake Piaget? 😂
Edit: pics for the curious:
https://imgur.com/gallery/Aj6JXoQ
Basically keep it in storage because of the thought behind it. If the gifter asks where it is, you can always say you're storing it because you don't want to risk losing it/having it stolen.
Over time/distance, you can get rid of it, use it for parts (my preferred method), or find some other means of disposal (e.g. target practice). If asked about it, depending on who's asking, you can say you lost it, or that it stopped working and was too expensive to repair so you sold it, that you had it customized (if you kept it and removed the unauthorized branding), and so on. If you believe the gifter can handle being told the brutal truth (or this is one of several gifts you've received from that person so one of them being faulty/fake is okay) perhaps at that time you can tell the person the plain truth.
As for fake watch disposal, for me it depends on what it's made of, what's inside, and where the unauthorized branding is.