Vintage or "professionally distressed".

[El Presidente]

Same seller 

Real or Fake? 

Vintage or "Professionally Distressed"? 

 

 

[Puros Y Vino]

I think a lot of this stuff has survived for decades intact.  When you think of the millions of cigars that were made Pre-Revolution, the bands and other ephemera equalled it.  

The really cool stuff like the metal brands for the boxes have popped up on eBay now and then. I've seen Cuban Davidoff and Dunghill ones. Very expensive though.

[BrightonCorgi]

Looks real to me.

[99call]

New Old Stock.

[Chitmo]

I would think there would have to be some sort of financial gain to be had in order for someone to put all that effort into making them. I think the right question is, would anyone actually buy them? Personally, unless it’s wrapped around a cigar I don’t see the point. 

[El Presidente]

43 minutes ago, Chitmo said:

I would think there would have to be some sort of financial gain to be had in order for someone to put all that effort into making them. I think the right question is, would anyone actually buy them? Personally, unless it’s wrapped around a cigar I don’t see the point. 

 

Each step below is being done today. No...not by me.... but you get the drift 

 

.......the cigars are the easy part of the process.  "Vintage" cigar....factor in.1.50 a piece.  I can make it look right, use no Ligero and go to some effort to source acceptable tobacco. Cuban tobacco? sure. I can purchase pretty shitty cuban volado/seco on the secondary. 

Next step is finding the right box. There are a few websites of course that specialise in empty vintage boxes but also some very good replica makers. I am going for a box of Davidoff as I have plenty of very good "vintage" Davidoff bands and the perfect empty box and ribbon of a  Davidoff Chateau Haut Brion. I love Davidoff vintage boxes as they are plentiful or/and easy to commission.   Box (complete package): say $100 and I am going top shelf.  Bands: $100 for 25 .....too much (if I had to buy them) but for this box it would be worth it .

End cost.                     $225   USD. 

Sell to wood duck:       $3879 USD*

pricepoint where It's a bargain.....but not too much of a bargain. 

[99call]

Saw these sold today for £102

 

[El Presidente]

5 hours ago, 99call said:

Saw these sold today for £102

25 beauties........I wasn't far off with my numbers 

[99call]

1 minute ago, El Presidente said:

I wasn't far off with my numbers 

Yup, Hats off Squire!

[Habanoschris]

I've seen everything Habanos including perfect holograms, warranty seals, tax stamps, rice paper inserts new & vintage bands etc. openly listed in bulk on Alibaba for many years now. 

My favorite is when they keep repeating on other forums or reddit,  "only worth it if cohibas are faked" ... or "if they are faking [insert non global brand name] then we are in trouble" ... naivity!

[Chitmo]

3 hours ago, El Presidente said:

 

Each step below is being done today. No...not by me.... but you get the drift 

 

.......the cigars are the easy part of the process.  "Vintage" cigar....factor in.1.50 a piece.  I can make it look right, use no Ligero and go to some effort to source acceptable tobacco. Cuban tobacco? sure. I can purchase pretty shitty cuban volado/seco on the secondary. 

Next step is finding the right box. There are a few websites of course that specialise in empty vintage boxes but also some very good replica makers. I am going for a box of Davidoff as I have plenty of very good "vintage" Davidoff bands and the perfect empty box and ribbon of a  Davidoff Chateau Haut Brion. I love Davidoff vintage boxes as they are plentiful or/and easy to commission.   Box (complete package): say $100 and I am going top shelf.  Bands: $100 for 25 .....too much (if I had to buy them) but for this box it would be worth it .

End cost.                     $225   USD. 

Sell to wood duck:       $3879 USD*

pricepoint where It's a bargain.....but not too much of a bargain. 

Can you get me a box of the $225 version? 😜 

[Jack]

There used to be a U.S. based website called "realfakes" or something like that. Dunhill bands, limited edition bands, Canadian tax seals. All of the box seals and inserts. Pretty much everything you needed other than a box. Some really esoteric stuff like Compay Segundo bands from his anniversary humidor of Monte 4s. I don't trust much anymore after seeing all of that.

[Puros Y Vino]

On 8/28/2024 at 2:17 PM, Jack said:

There used to be a U.S. based website called "realfakes" or something like that. Dunhill bands, limited edition bands, Canadian tax seals. All of the box seals and inserts. Pretty much everything you needed other than a box. Some really esoteric stuff like Compay Segundo bands from his anniversary humidor of Monte 4s. I don't trust much anymore after seeing all of that.

I remember that site. I was mostly interested in the Canadian tax seals. I do recall when something was "sold out" it never came back which tells me, supply was low and was possibly stocked with pilfered items vs counterfeit. Which you can assume can be replenished easily. 

FWIW, I'm noticing that the lithography of the Pre-Rev bands are far above what is made today. I'm sure the capabilities still exist today, but you don't see many, ornate designs. But that's just my opinion/observations.

[ubiquito]

I ordered bands from the realfakes site a few times, to replace on cigars I received bandless, when that was the norm back in the day!