4,000+ shipments were seized last year.
The jewelry/watches category ranks No. 2 on a new list of “America’s Most Counterfeited Items” by financial website 24/7 Wall St.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 4,297 seizures of counterfeit jewelry and watches in fiscal 2017, according to the website. The total value of the goods if they were genuine would be $460 million.
24/7 Wall St. notes that “unlike many commonly counterfeited items, watches, rings, and other jewelry are relatively small yet quite expensive.” That makes it possible to maximize the value of each shipment.
Jewelry and watches made up just under 13 percent of total seizures, and their market value was the highest of any category.
Ranking No. 1 was the “wearing apparel/accessories” category, with 5,223 shipments seized in fiscal 2017.
Across all categories, 31,560 shipments of counterfeit items were seized in 2017. Their total face value was more than $1.2 billion.
Advertisement
Read more at 24/7 Wall St.
Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson
When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren.
For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish.
"Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful."
The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing."
Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."
