A homage is a watch whose design honours a famous model made by a different brand. It echoes the original’s styling but does not pass itself off as the original. It also stays clear of the original maker’s trademarks. That is what sets a homage apart from a fake.
How close is a homage to the original?
A homage is not an exact copy. Its maker changes small styling details, so the watch recalls the original without matching it. In practice, many watches called homages are close look-alikes. Often the main difference from the original is the name on the dial. The best homages go further. They draw on a well-known design but have a clear brand identity of their own.
Not to be confused with
A homage is not a replica in the original sense of that word. A replica was a reproduction made by the original maker, or by the current owner of the brand. A homage comes from a different company. A homage is not a fake either, because a fake tries to pass as the original watch. Not everyone accepts these lines. Swiss brand owners sometimes take action against homage makers. For that reason, some collectors see homages as a covert form of faking.
Where it comes from
Homage watches were already appearing by about the middle of the twentieth century. During the 1960s, Rolex took the Japanese firm Ricoh to court over a watch that closely resembled the Rolex President Day-Date. Homages are very common among microbrands. Homages of the Rolex Submariner are especially widespread. Alpha is named as one of the main makers of homage watches.
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