It has been called the greatest shoe ever made. Man! That is a lot of hype to live up to for a shoe! But, a strong argument can be made that the Nike Air Force One is the greatest shoe ever made. Produced in over 2,000 colorways and counting, the Air Force One was the first sneaker to use the Nike “Air” technology. The sneaker was named after the Air Force One airplane that is used by the President of the United States. It is virtually impossible to track how many versions of the shoe exist. It has been rapped about by more than one famous R&B artist. Hype be gone!

The Nike Air Force One was originally made for the basketball hardcourt. It was produced as a mid-top basketball shoe and subsequently as a low-top sneaker. Technology in footwear certainly has come a long way. Especially when it comes to performance footwear for basketball players. There are now Air Jordans and the Hyper series(i.e.Hyperdunks, Hyperfuses, etc.) that Nike offers as high fast cash loans performance basketball shoes. And, high performance they are. The Air Force One has not been seen near a basketball court since, well, the 80′s.

On the other hand, as a casual shoe there is no equal. The Air Force One has used denim, patent leather, and horse hair among many other as elements of their production. Some versions of the shoe are classy enough to be worn as a dress shoe. As a casual shoe, these are certainly are Nike shoes, basketball shoes they are not. And that’s alright.

The ultimate compliment that a shoe, any shoe, can be given is personalization. Not only can you personalize the greatest shoe ever made, but to do so, there is only one place that you can do it in the entire country. 21 Mercer in New York City. 21 Mercer is a one of a kind NikeiD Studio. Here, you have the opportunity to use a large variety of colors, styles, and materials to create your dream kicks. In addition, at this one of a kind sneaker shop you can take advantage of a program they call Bespoke. Bespoke offers 1 on 1 consultation with a Nike designer to create a one of a kind sneaker. And it is one of a kind, you are the only one you makes it and the only one who wears it. But be prepared to spend some money, a Bespoke Air Force One can cost you up to $1,000.

If the “greatest” is measured in both quantity and quality, the Nike Air Force One measures up. If calling the Air Force One the greatest is taking it too far, it would be more than fair to say this shoe is the best sneaker ever made.

]]> http://gallery-e-motiv.com/the-greatest-shoe-ever-made/feed/ 0 http://gallery-e-motiv.com/how-to-tell-a-real-rolex-from-a-fake/ http://gallery-e-motiv.com/how-to-tell-a-real-rolex-from-a-fake/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:07:53 +0000 Robert http://gallery-e-motiv.com/?p=1532

If you are in the market for a Rolex watch, you obviously want to be sure you are buying the real thing. The Rolex brand of watches is the most copied watch in the world, some using very advanced counterfeit methods. One think to consider is that if it sounds too good to be true, or is a once in a life time offer, it is probably a fake.

The best thing you can do to determine a watches authenticity is to take the watch to a qualified jeweler or watchmaker that has a specialty in Rolex watches or Rolex repair. In addition, there are some obvious signs you can look out for to help save you some time. Most Rolex watches have very fine mechanical movements that allows the second hand to glide around the dial without noticeable ticks. Keep in mind that payday loans no credit check counterfeiters know this as well and have found ways to duplicate this.

The next step is to remove the watch band and between the lugs at the twelve position you should see a registered design number. Also, between the lugs at the six position you should see the serial number of the case. If either of these numbers are missing, it is a fake.

Some fake Rolexes have a glass crystal on the underside of the watch that allow you to see the watch movement. While very cool, this trait is not Rolex.

Used Rolex fakes that are gold will not be made of real gold, so look for wear and tear to see if signs of another color metal underneath. Real gold is very heavy and Rolex watches are noticeably heavy compared to fakes. The gold clasp will be engraved with the Rolex emblem. Silver color Rolexes are made of Stainless Steel which is also heavier that metal in fakes.

One model in particular that many people have been scammed with is The Submariner. The bezel on a genuine Submariner turns only counter clockwise and clicks exactly one hundred and twenty times to make a full circle. Fakes often turn in both directions and do not have the same number of clicks. Another feature to look at is the fond of the numbers used in the date. If the six and nine digits on the watch are open, it is not a true Roles Submariner.

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The Swiss Customs Service estimates between 30 to 40 million counterfeit and replica watches are put into circulation annually. These counterfeit watches cause considerable damage to the watch industry, both financially due to potential lost sales and also brand degradation as a result of the market being flooded with counterfeit copies of the original watches.

The annual trade show of the watch industry known as BaselWorld attracts many attendees from China who spend their time photographing the latest models being displayed by the top luxury watch-making brands. The photos of these new and prototype watches then find their way back to manufacturers in China where they are quickly copied and made into replica watches. The counterfeit timepieces are then rushed to market, often in advance of the authentic watch.

It is estimated by Swiss Customs that 40% of replica watches originate in China, although counterfeits are also manufactured elsewhere, including the United States. In October of 2006 police in Florida arrested a woman who had been operating a counterfeit watch business that earned about $8 million in sales. It is estimated that counterfeit watch sales worldwide cost Swiss watch manufacturers more than $600 million per year in lost sales. Once these counterfeit watches have been confiscated, it is the obligation of the Swiss Customs Service to destroy them. Surprisingly, in Switzerland individuals are allowed to keep a maximum of one counterfeit watch per person, provided they personally import it into the country. In addition, the watch being imported must not include any forged precious-metal hallmarks.

Two Types of Counterfeit Watches

Counterfeit watches are divided into two groups:
• The first group is comprised of low-priced imitations of watches. A cheap counterfeit watch features the name of a prestigious brand, but lacks its design and functions.
• The second group involves counterfeit watches designed to resemble the original authentic watch (a trade-dress violation). Some high-priced counterfeit watches are produced from better quality materials and have golden parts and leather straps.

Replica Rolex Watches

One of the more popular counterfeited watch models are the Rolex replica watches – which are illegally manufactured replicas of authentic Rolex watches. As with many of the expensive brand-name luxury watches on the market, Rolex watches can frequently be found being counterfeited and sold illegally on the internet and the street. The counterfeit Rolex watches are mostly produced in countries that include Taiwan, Korea, India and China (statistics from 2004 show that 54% of counterfeits seized originated in China) and can be found retailing for as little as $5 and as high as $1,000 or more for high-end replicas fabricated in gold, although the majority of counterfeit Rolexes use gold electroplating. The trade in replica Rolex watches has become sophisticated, complete with full-color glossy brochures and catalogues of counterfeited watches produced in China and offered for sale to retail vendors.

Characteristics of a Counterfeit Watch

You often hear that you can tell a counterfeit watch from an authentic one by the smooth movement of the second hand. This is a myth, due to the fact that many counterfeit watches use inexpensive quartz crystal engines which produce the telltale start/stop movement visible once per second of the sweep. If you observe closely you will see that even an authentic Rolex movement does not have a perfectly smooth second-hand sweep, but actually eight movements per second. The only watch mechanisms that had a second-hand with a true, uninterrupted sweep were the Seiko Spring-Drive and the Bulova tuning-fork movement. That being said, some of the better counterfeit watches on the market have automatic movements, and Rolex has produced a few models with quartz movements which produces the distinct quartz movement ticks.

Another trait of a replica Rolex watches is if it has a transparent case back allowing the movement to be seen. Rolex never made such a watch, an exception being some models from the 1930s which are extremely rare and the new Cellini Price models. You will never see an authentic Rolex watch with an engraved company logo, design or Rolex name on the outside of the caseback. Exceptions to this are a few of the lady’s models which have engraving on the case backs, and the Sea-Dweller models which say in black on the back, Rolex Oyster Original Gas Escape Valve, along with two Rolex logos. Other than that, authentic Rolex watches have a smooth caseback free of engravings.

Recently, Rolex has begun shipping recent models with a 3-dimensional hologram-encoded sticker on the caseback that has a floating Rolex crown logo to the top of the watch case’s reference number, which is printed in black. Most of the stickers on counterfeit Rolex watches are either solid green or a repetitious “Rolex” pattern, instead of a hologram. Some of the replica Rolex watches manufactured in Laos, Vietnam and China from 2006 on have a solid green hologram on the caseback. Prior to 2002 the reference number was printed in gold and the hologram did not have the Rolex crown logo. Today, counterfeiters are trying to more closely match the actual hologram sticker. Rolex stopped using the hologram around 2007 and new Rolex watches are not being shipped with it.

Another trait of an authentic Rolex watch is the almost invisible laser-etched crown logo on the inside of the crystal at the 6 o’clock position. A few replica Rolex watches have this etching, but it is often smaller and less distinct than on an authentic Rolex watch.

Also, an authentic Rolex has a date magnification 2.5 times normal size which should almost visibly fill the glass bubble. A few counterfeits have a larger font wheel to imitate the effect, although they don’t come close to appearance of the date on an authentic Rolex watch.

It is always best if you can examine a suspected counterfeit Rolex next to a genuine Rolex watch. Comparing them in this manner often reveals small color variations on the dial and watch-band, the laser printing on the face and any other variances that could identify an authentic Rolex from a counterfeit. In addition, all the edges on an authentic Rolex and its band are smooth, not sharp or coarse like many counterfeits.

Counterfeit watches are sometimes manufactured so well that even a specialist needs special equipment to verify its authenticity, according to Swiss Customs Service officials. An expensive price tag for a watch is also not a guarantee of quality, as even they can simply be very well done counterfeits. In addition, logos, seals and other proprietary markings can be forged to deceive the purchased into believing the watch is made with genuine solid gold, when in reality it’s a counterfeit that’s gold plated. Gold watches do not have to be made of solid gold to be authentic, as there are authentically manufactured watches that are gold plated. Counterfeits that are gold colored use much thinner gold plating, which will quickly begin to wear away.

Rolex History

Rolex SA was founded in 1905 by the German Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law, Alfred Davis. Contrary to popular belief, Hans Wilsdorf was neither Swiss, nor a watchmaker. Wilsdorf & Davis was the original name of what later became the Rolex Watch Company. They originally imported Hermann Aegler’s Swiss movements to England and placed them in quality cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were then sold to jewelers, who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from the firm of Wilsdorf and Davis are usually marked “W&D” – inside the caseback only.

Hans Wilsdorf registered the trademark name “Rolex” in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1908. The origin of the name is obscure. One story, which was never confirmed by Wilsdorf, is that the word “Rolex” came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning exquisite watch industry. Another is that the name was chosen to indicate movement when spoken in English.

The Wilsdorf & Davis company moved out of the United Kingdom in 1912. Wilsdorf wanted his watches to be affordable, but taxes and export duties on the case metals (silver and gold) were driving costs up. From that time to the present, Rolex has been headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, though the company owns facilities in other cities (Bienne, etc) and continents (North America, Asia, Australia, etc).

The company name Rolex was officially registered on 15 November, 1915. It is thought this change was part of a drive to popularize wristwatches, which at the time were still considered a novelty largely for women (pocket watches were more common). Wilsdorf was said to desire his watch brand’s name to be easily pronounceable in any language. The company name was officially changed to the Rolex Watch Company during 1919. It was later changed to Montres Rolex, SA and finally Rolex, SA.

Rolex SA is a foundation initiated and originally funded by Hans Wilsdorf and the Aegler family. According to foundation documentation, the Rolex SA company can never be sold, nor traded on any stock market.

Other Rolex Innovations

Among the company’s innovations are the first waterproof watch case; the first wristwatch with a date on the dial; the first watch to show two timezones at once; and most importantly the first watchmakers to earn the coveted chronometer certification for a wristwatch. To date, Rolex still holds the record for the most certified chronometer movements in the category of wristwatches.

Another little known fact is that Rolex participated in the development of the original quartz watch movements. Although Rolex has made very few quartz models for its Oyster line, the company’s engineers were instrumental in design and implementation of the technology during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968, Rolex collaborated with a consortium of 16 Swiss watch manufacturers to develop the Beta 21 quartz movement used in their Rolex Quartz Date 5100. Consequently, after five years of research, design, and development, Rolex engineering efforts finally culminated in the “clean-slate” 5035/5055 movement that would eventually power the Rolex Oysterquartz – arguably the finest quartz movement that has ever been made.

The first self-winding Rolex watch was offered to the public in 1931, preceded to the market by Harwood which patented the design in 1923 and produced the first self-winding watch in 1928, powered by an internal mechanism that used the movement of the wearer’s arm. This not only made watch-winding unnecessary, but eliminated the problem of over-winding a watch and harming its mechanism. Rolex was also the first watch company to create a truly waterproof watch – another milestone from novelty to functional timepiece. Wilsdorf even went so far as to have a specially made Rolex watch attached to the side of the Trieste bathyscaphe, which went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The watch survived and tested as having kept perfect time during its descent and ascent. This was confirmed by a telegram sent to Rolex the following day saying “Am happy to confirm that even at 11,000 meters your watch is as precise as on the surface. Best regards, Jacques Piccard”.

Rolex has also made a reputation in watches suitable for the extremes of deep-sea diving, aviation and mountain climbing. Early sports models included the Rolex submariner, Oyster Perpetual Sea Dweller 2000 (in 1971). This watch featured a helium release valve, co-invented with Swiss watchmaker Doxa, to release helium gas build-up during decompression. Another sports model is the Rolex GMT Master II, originally developed at the request of Pan Am Airways, to assist pilots in transcontinental flights. The Explorer and Explorer II were developed specifically for explorers who would navigate rough terrain – such as the world famous Everest Expeditions.

On the more glamorous side, Ian Fleming’s James Bond character wore a Rolex Oyster Perpetual in the series of spy novels. In the early EON production Bond films, Commander Bond wore a Rolex Submariner. However, for the Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan and the film with Daniel Craig, James Bond’s standard issue watch is a Omega Seamaster. This is due in part to Omega being open to jointly promote their association with the films’ producers.

In a famous murder case, the Rolex watch that the victim wore on his wrist eventually led to the arrest of his murderer. When a body was found in the English channel in 1996 by a fisherman who caught the body, and the 4.5 kilogram anchor attached to it through the victim’s belt, in his net about 10 kilometers from the English coast, a Rolex wristwatch was the only identifiable object on the body. Since the Rolex movement had a serial number and was engraved with special markings every time it was serviced, British police traced the service records from Rolex, and Ronald Joseph Platt was identified as the owner of the watch and the victim of the murder. In addition British police were able to determine the date of death by examining the date on the watch calendar and since the Rolex movement had a reserve of two to three days of operation when inactive and it was fully waterproof, they were able to determine the time of death within a small margin of error.

Rolex counterfeits

Like many high-priced, brand-name watches, Rolex watches are one of the most counterfeited brands of watches available and can be found illegally being sold on the street and the internet. These fake Rolex watches are mainly produced in Asian countries such as India and mainland China (EU figures show that 54% of fakes seized in 2004 originated in China), and retail anywhere from $5 upwards to $1000 for high-end Rolex replica watches fabricated in gold. By some accounts, over 75% of all replica watches produced annually are copies of Rolex Oyster Perpetual designs. These fake watches have been nicknamed “Folex” or “Fauxlex”, or “Trolex” in Spain (trola means fake in Spanish).