On April 1985, Cartier crushed thousands of counterfeit watches worth $50 million at the La Chaux-de-Fonds facility in Switzerland. The event, which was publicised by the company was arranged to send a powerful and crushing message to the world and condemn the manufacture of fake watches.
A year later, on July 1986, the movement drew momentum and a public demonstration was staged in New York City. The then Cartier Inc. chairman, Ralph Destino, was himself at the steering wheels of a steamroller as he went on to destroy more than 2,000 Cartier replicas. The demonstration took place outside the La Grenouille restaurant on Fifth Avenue.
The fake Cartier watches were destroyed publicly more than forty decades ago to send a strong message against counterfeiting and reclaiming the integrity of the brand. The company thought and rightly so, that the replicas had filled the markets and were a threat to the heritage and legacy of Cartier.
The public demonstrations came under several lawsuits against counterfeiters as the company was determined to protect their status as a luxury brand that can have no duplicates. Chairman Ralph Destino had revealed that they were more than 400 lawsuits and every case was won.
The replicas were nothing but junk and the symbolic action was also a way to protect artistic integrity and originality.
Before destroying the fake watches himself, Ralph Destino had expressed his anger publicly, stating, "We're not going to take it any longer".
The counterfeit products were seized by the police, U.S Marshals and even the U.S. attorney's office. Ralph Destino had said that the products he destroyed were manufactured in Hong Kong before being inscribed with the Cartier label.
The replicas were largely found in the shops in Manhattan's Canal Street which were later seized. Interestingly, the company inscription would be added only after the products passed through U.S. Customs.
While Cartier had won the legal cases, the demonstrations were to send out a message to the world and draw their attention.
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