Music Business

Rapper Rocking A Fake Rolex? Don’t Let FakeWatchBuster See!

Fakewatchbusta-detailFakeWatchBuster (aka The Horological Batman aka The Dark Knight of Watches) is the pseudonym for an individual currently exposing those, including many in the rap game, who like to show off their supposedly high-end, iced-out watches. This week Noisey interviewed the man behind the Instagram to find out more about his obsession with watches which FakeWatchBuster explains by saying: "I’m just a detail freak and It’s part of my obsession with watches, it’s a million details on a space of 4cm."

FakeWatchBuster describes himself to Noisey:

"I’m a dude in my 30’s from Europe. I don’t want to [say much more] since the threat of lawsuits are starting to pile up from the jewelers selling these fake watches. I get a cease and desist letter almost once a week. Instagram shut down my first account after I busted Carmelo Anthony with a fake Audemars Piguet and a fake Panerai. He is clean now but there was a lot of drama with his sponsors after I exposed his replicas."

Currently holding court on Instagram at fakewatchbusta, one of his recurring themes is Soulja Boy's watch said to be stuck perpetually at 10:25:

"I don’t think they [rappers] care about the watch part – it’s the diamonds and shit that’s important to them. I think it’s more jewelery than watches for most of them."

"I mean Soulja Boy’s watch is a bad Audemars Piguet quartz fake and the battery has run out so it shows the same time in all his pictures. It’s 10:25 all day, every day. It’s pretty funny."

FakeWatchBuster's mission is as much about exposing replica watchmakers as it is about exposing those attempting to brand themselves off fake jewelry:

"One of the reasons for doing this, it’s mostly for the laughs you know, but I don’t like the replica industry at all. No one loses any sleep over some Swiss million dollar companies getting hurt, but all the research I’ve done comes down to terrible conditions, use of hazardous materials and child labor…At the prices they sell this for it’s not possible to [make these watches] in an ethical way and the working conditions must be some of the worst there is."

But you're probably wondering, "Who are the rappers with the best real watch collections?"

FakeWatchBuster reveals:

"Meek Mill is genuine, 50 Cent is genuine, Eminem got one Rolex, and it’s real. Jay-Z is the one with the nicest watches. He is not into all the bling, he got some real quality high-end watches. He also has his own models from both Audemars Piguet and Hublot."

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) posts music crowdfunding news @CrowdfundingM. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

Share on: