Swatch Group’s Omega brand filed a criminal complaint with Swiss prosecutors over the sale of a faked Speedmaster watch it bought at auction for a record price of more than $3 million.
(Bloomberg) — Swatch Group’s Omega brand filed a criminal complaint with Swiss prosecutors over the sale of a faked Speedmaster watch it bought at auction for a record price of more than $3 million.
A spokesman in the Bern prosecutor’s office confirmed receipt of the complaint, but declined to say whether a criminal investigation had been started in response. Omega has alleged former employees conspired with others to produce a so-called “Frankenstein” version of a vintage Speedmaster.
An amalgam of time-period correct and allegedly inauthentic components, the watch was sold by auction house Phillips in Geneva in 2021 for a record price of more than 3.1 million Swiss francs ($3.6 million). Omega itself was the buyer and has previously said that three former employees, including one that worked at the brand’s museum, were involved in the alleged criminal plot.
News of the bogus watch sent shock waves through the Swiss luxury watch and auction communities last month when details first emerged. Online blogger Jose Perez’s website Perezcope first raised questions about the authenticity of the watch in April and Swiss newspaper NZZ published a story in June alleging the ex-Omega employees had assisted others in Switzerland who were involved in constructing the watch before it was consigned to Phillips.
Omega and parent company Swatch Group AG declined to comment. A spokesperson for Phillips said the auction house welcomed the investigation and looks forward to seeing the outcome of the findings.
Phillips is cooperating “in full” with the authorities. “We are expecting to be contacted by the prosecutor’s office and are ready to hand over all our evidence relevant to this transaction as soon as that happens,” a spokesperson said.
Omega previously said that Phillips hadn’t disclosed who sold the watch purported to have been produced in 1957. The auction house has said it would disclose the seller’s identity if requested by police or prosecutors.
Known for its Speedmaster and Seamaster models, Omega is the third-largest Swiss watchmaker by revenue with sales of about 2.5 billion francs last year, according to Morgan Stanley estimates.
The brand generated more than half of Swatch Group’s pretax earnings from watches in 2022, Morgan Stanley has said.
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