It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it. The train pulled into Khabarovsk, Far Eastern Russia. The weather outside was British; damp, grey, sleeting, except far colder.

My sleepy companion, a flying Finn, was on his way back to Shenzhen, another trip in a never ending cycle of pick-ups and drop-offs. Hannes is a replica watch mule. He picks replica watches up in Shenzhen, and drops them off in Kharbarovsk where someone else takes them on their long  journey to the heart of Russia and then into Europe. It’s all so you can pick up a replica watch on holiday or via any of thousands of online mom and pop websites. And as soon as the Swiss brand police close one down, another opens.

I’m on my way to Shenzen for a personal introduction to one of the big replica watch factories. Not, I must point out, to buy replica watches. The factory doesn’t only make replica watches, they make hundreds of thousands of no name watches in a never ending variety into which you can simply slot your own brand name, and hey presto, you’re an overnight watch brand. It’s not surprising more and more brands keep cropping up every day. It keeps the watch bloggers on their toes, that’s for sure.

While I am in Shenzhen under the guise of starting my own brand, I intend to find out as much as I can about the replica watch business. That’s why I’m sitting here in the forced air heat of a train carriage in frosty, gloomy Kharbarovsk.

As a watch journalist, I firmly believe fakes are for dummies, but that doesn’t stop my natural journalistic curiosity from wanting to know how things work in the replica watch world.

The days of the laughable copy watch are long gone. Some of the replicas are so realistic they are no longer called mere replicas, they are called clones. Even the movements look and perform the same as the real movement they are copying. It can take an experienced Swiss watchmaker 20 minutes or more to determine if it’s real or not – and sometimes they are still left best guessing. I know because that’s how long I waited for the verdict on a cloned Rolex Submariner in Geneva.

If you ask Hannes, carefully cropped here having a post beer nap, he’ll tell you the Swiss manufacturers shouldn’t get their panties in a bunch – or words to that effect.

Everyone who buys a replica knows it’s a replica, they just want a copy of a watch they know they will never be able to own. Hannes says it create aspirations for the high end brands that is actually good for business.

He also pointed out that several wealthy people who own the real deal buy back up replicas to wear at night so they don’t need to worry about losing the genuine article in the event of a hold up in the street. It’s more common than you might imagine in some of the world’s major cities.

It may sound controversial, but a study, co-written by a Home Office adviser a couple of years ago, more or less supported Hannes views. They concluded that consumers benefit from the market for knock-off designer clothes and watches at knock-down prices.

The report also rejects the complaints of designer and watch companies, claiming that losses to the industry as a result of counterfeiting are vastly exaggerated – they believe the losses are minimal because most of those who buy fakes would never pay for the real thing.  And, as Hannes stated, the replicas can actually promote the aspirational desire to save up for the real product.

So for as long as there’s a market for an affordable copy, Hannes and his ilk will be making their weekly journeys to feed the need.

Replica watches are the safer option to drugs. Penalties for import if you get caught are a lot less stiffer, and prison sentences are extremely rare. Besides, with an all out drug war which globally the police are losing, many forces have realised they need to be focussing on a problem that causes genuine harm, rather than worrying about replica eye candy on people’s arms.

Hannes looked bleary eyed but he was suddenly wide awake as the train jolted to a determined final stop. We alighted here and made our way to the delights of  Khabahrovsk Novy airport to catch an evening flight to Shenzhen, China.

Shenzhen, China

30 years ago, believe me because I was there, Shenzhen was just a non-descript village bordering Hong Kong. I haven’t been back since, but I know what to expect – look at the bit in my profile where it says widely travelled. It’s Hong Kong by another name.

Shenzhen today is another skyscraping mega success story made possible by rapid foreign investment.

It’s no exaggeration to say that whatever in the world you want made, whether real or replica, head to Shenzhen or Guangdong and someone somewhere will make it for you.

Hannes has long since lost any of the romance of travel. He has a quota of watches to get from A to B each month, and it’s a demanding schedule. Probably rather like drug muling, if you lose any product along the way for any reason it’s on you. But so far Hannes has been lucky. He speaks excellent English with a slightly Nordic accent, and sounds utterly credible.

If he misses a connection, particularly on the outward trip couriering watches, he can be delayed for days, holed up in gloomy Khabarovsk hotels and losing money, while suppliers lose their patience.

Like any middle management job, Hannes has a boss, but it’s not the Chinese manufacturers of the replicas – it’s a Russian dealer in Moscow. They rarely meet, but if there are transportation problems, Hannes gets it down the line in angry bear Russian.

I ask him about getting the goods through customs.

“I always come prepared, if there’s a problem it’s amazing what the gift of a couple of watches can do.”

He points out that he wouldn’t try this tactic in Australia or most parts of Europe, but for the time being, on this route at least, it works. Hannes has also made it his business to get to know the key people. Again, this is happening more often than you might imagine. At Heathrow, with the right money and connections, you’d be amazed at what’s possible.

Hannes is just one of the many supplying the three million or more consumers in the UK alone who buy counterfeit goods each year. There are many solutions in ensuring that the supply gets through. Replica watches travel by ship, by air, by rail, often even by car or van.

As the song goes, I don’t care how you get there, just get there if you can.

In part 2 of On the quest of the copy watch to follow soon, I will visit the watch factory in Shenzhen and get to see some of the merchandise.