Post
by mrneddles » Sun Sep 30, 2012 2:38 pm
Quoted from Aqua Homer at WL:
Not only did Chris Weigand (forum name Ray Knight) make sterile dialed Panerai and Marine Divers, he could be contacted to make personal, exceptional quality counterfeits, branded as Panerai. He has a fairly dubious history as a college grad with pyramid schemes, etc. When Panerai began it's round of lawsuits against Helenarou, Marine Diver, and Marina Militare, I had just retired from MPD, and was working for the State Department. At that time I was on an Alpha, Parnis, etc search and destroy mission. I contacted Panerai's attorney in NY, and turned them on to Chris Weigand, and some of the things WUS was condoning at that time. The Florida States attorney ultimately got involved, due to jurisdictional problems between New York and Florida. In the end, it was settled, Weigand "promised" to cease making replica or homage watches based on Panerai design, and founded Lum-Tec.
If you guys search some of the archives of the bigger well-known replica forums, you can see his custom counterfeit work.