The Physical and Chemical Analysis of Watches
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Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d'administration publique FORENSIC INTELLIGENCE ON ILLICIT MARKETS: THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF WATCHES AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIGHT AGAINST COUNTERFEITING PHD THESIS SARAH HOCHHOLDINGER ECOLE DES SCIENCES CRIMINELLES UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE - SWITZERLAND LAUSANNE, 2019 Supervisors: Professor Olivier Delémont Professor Pierre Esseiva Acknowledgements Writing this thesis, from the initial choice of a topic, through various methodological challenges, data analysis and of course drafting the final manuscript was a long and winding road. Every aspect of this research brought new challenges. The light at the end is an overwhelming personal accomplishment beyond description. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those whose assistance was a milestone in the completion of this project. First of all, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisors, Professor Olivier Delémont and Professor Pierre Esseiva. I want to thank you for the confidence you had in me, for giving me so much freedom for my research, for your persistent help and guidance, as well as all your encouragements. I particularly thank Michel Arnoux, Head of the Anti-Counterfeiting Department at the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH), for accepting this collaboration. I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to do an internship at the FH, for all your knowledge you shared with me on counterfeit watches, for being a member of the jury, for your kindness and your great interest in forensic science. I also wish to express my gratitude towards the Cantonal Laboratory of Vaud, in particular Dr. Stefan Bieri and Dr. Laure Marvin. Thank you for the pleasant time in your laboratory and your great help during the development of the analytical method. I would like to thank Professor Quentin Rossy for being a member of the jury and the precious comments on my research. I would also like to thank Dr. Carlos Fraga from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for taking the time to review my research. Special recognition goes to the Director of the Ecole des sciences criminelles, Professor Olivier Ribaux and his team. A big thank to the EDL team, Susanna, Valentin, Aline and Eric. It was always a great pleasure to work with you. I want to thank my friends, Bettina, Fabian, Loretta, Lukas and Nicole for the unforgettable years of university studies. I would like to thank my colleagues and friends Anne-Céline, Anne, Harmonie, Luca, Guillaume, Francesco, Sorcha, Mathieu, Saman, Killian, Robin, Daniel, Susanna and Natalia for all the moments we have shared together during the past five years. Your presence has been very important to me and you have always been a major source of support. A special thanks to Lydie and Lisa for your constant assistance, open ears, honesty and friendship. I wish to acknowledge the support and love of my siblings, Patrick and Nina as well as my sister-in-law Tamara. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards my parents, Jürg and Monika. You gave me the strength to reach for the stars. I deeply honor your selfless love, care, pain and sacrifices that you have made throughout my life. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my boyfriend Men. Thank you for your belief in me and for standing beside me with all your love and endless support. Abstract Counterfeit luxury fashion goods have rarely been the subject of scientific studies. Very little is known about the mechanisms of this illicit market, despite the apparent prevalence and their adverse consequences. Contrary to the general perception of counterfeiting having minimal real-world consequences, it can indeed have serious effects on the economic, social and human levels. The profits derived from the industry are largely associated with revitalising other forms of underground economies and illicit activities. In the luxury goods segment, watches remain one of the preferred targets of counterfeiters. Very little is known on the production of these watches and the relationships among the different steps of raw material supplies, watch part manufacturing, assembling and diffusion. The study of traces in a forensic intelligence perspective can contribute to an improved understanding of the phenomenon. The aim of this research was to highlight different types of links that can be drawn between specimens of counterfeit watches, to carry out a thorough study of the information conveyed by the revealed links, to study their complementarity and to get an understanding of the knowledge that can be produced from these pieces of information. A further and complementary objective of this research was to appraise the potential risk to public health due to toxic heavy metals in watchcases and its relevance as an anticounterfeiting approach. The first part of this research was devoted to the development of a suitable analytical strategy providing representative and informative data on the composition of watchcases and the creation of reliable profiles from these analytical results. Subsequently, these profiles were compared and grouped. In the second part, a thorough study of physical features as well as the relationships within the analysed watches was performed. Chemical and physical links were found that corroborated existing knowledge and also revealed new connections between different seizures or specimens. The comparison with spatiotemporal information elucidated possible aspects of the structure and the organisation of production and distribution channels. The detection of heavy metal contaminations demonstrated that some counterfeit watchcases are manufactured with inferior materials. These results presented a more comprehensive understanding on the effects of counterfeiting; showing that they are not just restricted to intellectual property and trade infringements but may also pose a public health problem. The proposed approach, oriented from a forensic intelligence perspective, allowed to combine different dimensions in an interdisciplinary manner. The resulting insights provided valuable investigative leads, a solid basis for future research and demonstrated how forensic science can actively contribute to the gathering of intelligence on illicit markets. Résumé La contrefaçon de produits de luxe a rarement fait l’objet d’études scientifiques. Les mécanismes de ce type de marché illicite restent très peu connus, malgré l’apparente prévalence et les effets négatifs de celui-ci. En effet, malgré la perception générale que les conséquences liées à la contrefaçon seraient négligeables, le marché de la contrefaçon peut, en fait, engendrer des effets sérieux au niveau économique, sociale et humain. Les bénéfices tirés de cette industrie sont largement associés au financement d’autres formes d’économies clandestines et activités illicites. Dans le secteur du luxe, les montres demeurent la cible privilégiée des contrefacteurs. Il existe très peu d’informations quant à la production de ces montres et les relations qui existent entre les différentes étapes de l’approvisionnement en matières premières, la fabrication des composants de montres, l’assemblage et la diffusion. L’étude de traces dans une perspective de renseignement forensique peut contribuer à une meilleure compréhension du phénomène. Les objectifs principaux de cette recherche étaient de mettre en évidence les liens qui peuvent être établis entre des spécimens de montres contrefaites, puis de procéder à une étude exhaustive des informations obtenues à partir de ces liens, d’étudier leur complémentarité et enfin, de comprendre les connaissances qui peuvent être tirées à partir de ces différents éléments d’information. Un autre objectif complémentaire était d’évaluer le risque potentiel pour la santé public de la présence de métaux lourds dans les montres contrefaites et la pertinence de cette observation en tant qu’approche de lutte contre la contrefaçon. La première partie de cette recherche était consacrée au développement d’une stratégie analytique adaptée à la production de données représentatives et informatives sur la composition des boitiers de montres et à la création de profils fiables à partir des résultats analytiques. Par la suite ces profils ont été comparés et groupés. Dans une deuxième partie, une étude approfondie des caractéristiques physiques et les relations qui existent entre les spécimens analysés a été effectuée. Les liens chimiques et physiques établis ont corroboré des connaissances existantes mais ils ont également révélé de nouvelles connections entre saisies et spécimens. La comparaison avec des informations spatiotemporelles a mis en évidence des aspects possibles de la structure et de l’organisation de la production et des canaux de distribution. La présence de contaminations de métaux lourds a démontré qu’une partie des boitiers de montres contrefaites sont fabriquées avec des matériaux de qualité inférieure. Ces résultats ont permis de parvenir à une meilleure compréhension des effets de la contrefaçon en montrant qu’elle n’est pas limitée à une atteinte aux droits de propriété intellectuelle mais qu’elle peut également poser des problèmes de santé publique. L’approche proposée combine plusieurs dimensions d’une manière interdisciplinaire. Les résultats obtenus ont permis de fournir des pistes utiles, une base solide pour des recherches futures et ils ont démontré que la science forensique peut activement contribuer à la production de renseignement sur les marchés illicites. Table of contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................