Watches' Luxury or Lie: Pawnbrokers Learn to Identify

Las Vegas, NV Strip. Image courtesy of Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/en/las-vegas-strip-las-vegas-strip-1128811/. CCO Public Domain


UPDATE (May 2017):

I've discovered that one of the best blogs to find out more about upscale pawnshops is written by EZ Pawn Corporation's President, Lauren Kaminsky. 

The 2017 National Pawnbrokers Association (NPA) Annual will be held in Las Vegas July 11-13.

Summer is the high season for professional association conferences and trade shows. This summer, Las Vegas heats up with no fewer than 240 of them during July. The National Pawnbrokers Association (NPA) will be there hosting its Pawn Expo 2016 at the Mirage Hotel and Casino from July 12 -14th.

This year, the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) offers Pawn Expo attendees an exceptional opportunity to learn more about the vagaries of luxury watches. Adam Harris, NAWCC Horologist/Consultant will be speaking about how to unravel the product Luxury or Lie conundrum, i.e. how to "discern a counterfeit wristwatch from the genuine."

Eleven is a lucky LV number and it's also the number of manufacturers Harris will cover in his NPA presentation. The line-up includes Omega, Hublot, Rolex, Breitling, Cartier, Tag Heuer, Panerai, Bell & Ross, Patek, Breguet, and Audemars Piquet.

Pawnbrokers attending the session will learn how not to rely on Lady Luck in accepting a luxury watch for loan collateral or outright buy. They will learn to identify the hallmarks of the genuine and tip-offs to the so- called "replica watches" as the counterfeit trade likes to call them. They will learn the watch industry language of  "reworked dials, the marriage of Franken pieces (some original parts mixed with replica or after-market parts), complications, and homage versus Franken versus reworked."


Surprised that this would be of interest to the pawn industry?  It is big business -- with $14.5 billion in annual revenue. There were approximately 11,000 U.S. pawn establishments. 85% of them are independently owned small businesses or small regional chains. The rest are publicly owned. Most will never see luxury watches proffered on a regular basis.

However, there is a subset within the industry known as upscale pawnshops or high-end pawnshops that accept higher value merchandise that can include watches, jewelry, gem stones, fine art, and wine collections among others. These include EZ Pawn Corporation of New York, the Provident Loan Society of New York, Borro, and iPawn.com. 

Several of these companies already have had associates who participated in Adam Harris' two-day NAWCC Class, "Luxury or Lie™" and gave glowing reports on their experiences.

"Adam Harris' Luxury or Lie Course is a must for anyone in the business of buying high-end watches. His knowledge and expertise surpassed our expectations and provided an invaluable learning experience for all."
                                                                    Lauren Kaminsky, EZ Pawn Corp, NY

"what initially on paper sounded as a rather boring seminar turned out to be a extremely informative event. It opened up my eyes into the vast world of watches without hesitation. Your entertaining way of getting everybody involved in this course was without peer."
                   Gertrude C. Richter, Manager, Provident Loan Society of New York

It's a sure thing that pawnbrokers who take this NPA seminar during Pawn 2016  won't follow the adage, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." They'll be using their new luxury watch knowledge with discriminating eyes and spreading the word to colleagues about the value of identifying the replica from the authentic.

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