Inside the Delirious Rise of Superfake Handbags – The New York Times

I WeChatted a seller calling herself Linda a name that, amid others like Aadi, Aooko, Mr. Bao and Zippy, made her seem the least likely to scam me and/or get me placed on a C.I.A. watch list and instantly she sent me photos of a dozen possible Triomphes. The seller reassured me that I d have the chance to QC (quality-check) the PSPs (pre-shipment photos). A high tier version of the bag would come out to about 915 yuan, or $132. Which color would I like?

I hesitated for a few days, then texted her: Cream, please. It was the middle of the night in China, but Linda wrote me back within seconds: Done. It would be at my doorstep in about three weeks.

via www.nytimes.com

I went through a stage of buying inexpensive replica “homage” watches from China a few years back, in the throes of my YouTube addiction. These are watches that look like Rolexes or Piagets to the casual inspection, but are in fact less elegant copies made in the PRC. Some of them are extremely high quality, though not of the $10K plus strain. But good ones are typically branded with a different name, such as “Bagelsport” –one of my favorites — so a closer look quickly identifies them as homages, not the original. But then, like Tucker wondering why he gloried in the antifa guy getting roughed up, I wondered “why am I doing this?” My reasons were less than noble, so I stopped. It’s Seiko and Casio for me now, I fear.