Horological Meandering

Jos.
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Well put, Marcus...

... I couldn't have said it better.

Armani's despicable behaviour is in my view worse than the intellectual property theft committed by the counterfeiters. The latter do not try to hide the fact that they're criminals. They rely on underworld connections and fly-by-night operations, and are constantly hiding themselves from prosecuting authorities and other official scrutiny. Although this clearly isn't enough to squash the criminal activities, it limits their scope and size by virtue of making life difficult for the criminals. This guarantees that IP theft will always remain a marginal phenomenon. Increasingly marginal, since the Chinese authorities, closer to the 'source', have also started to crack down on these crimes.

And here comes Armani, not only cutting corners by 'borrowing' other people's designs (which is probably and unfortunately just this side of legal), but in doing so rewarding the criminals' efforts, expanding their business and lending them a veneer of respectability. Actions like that set back the work of law enforcers by decades.

And it dangerously interlaces the activities of the underworld and civilised society, creating a network of interests that will be even more difficult to unravel in the long run.

Such behaviour should be addressed swiftly and decisively. Unfortunately there's little I can do as a single consumer, but I hope that signaling this will spark an outcry that will eventually reach Armani's ears. And I sincerely hope they will not be tin ears.

I thank Marcus, the original poster, for bringing this matter to our attention.

Best regards,
Jos.