Short answer: a fake Villeret 6659 is a replica of the Blancpain Villeret Complete Calendar 6659, and this reference is one of the harder watches to copy well. The real thing packs a full calendar (day, date, month, moon phase) into a 40mm case that is thinner than most replicas can manage, with the correctors hidden under the lugs. That thinness and those hidden pushers are exactly where copies give themselves away.
What the genuine 6659 is
Blancpain's Villeret Complete Calendar 6659 arrived as the larger follow-up to the long-running 6263. The case measures about 40mm across and roughly 11.7mm thick, offered in steel or red gold, with a stepped bezel, sapphire front and back, and a dial in opaline or a guilloché pattern depending on the version. Inside sits caliber 6654, an automatic with a 72-hour reserve and a silicon balance spring. Day and month sit in twin apertures under 12, the date runs on a pointer at 3, and the moon phase fills the space at 6. You set everything with four correctors tucked under the lugs, which is why the case profile stays so clean.
Why replicas of this one struggle
Simple three-handers are easy to fake. A complete calendar is not. The factories that build first-copy watches mostly start from a Miyota 9015 or a cloned ETA and bolt a calendar module on top. That module adds height. Genuine thickness lands near 11.7mm. Plenty of replicas sit at 13mm or more, and the gap shows the second you put one next to a photo of the real watch or slide it under a shirt cuff.
The other problem is the correctors. Under-lug pushers need precise case machining. On cheap copies they sit proud, feel gritty, or get faked as recessed dimples that do nothing at all. If the correctors are decorative, what you have is a prop, not a replica.
What the tiers mean
- Low tier: quartz or basic automatic, printed moon phase that never moves, wrong date font, mineral glass.
- Mid tier: automatic with a working moon phase and calendar, but a thick case and soft engraving on the caseback.
- Top tier, often sold as first copy: correct 40mm sizing, sapphire with anti-reflective coating, applied indices, decorated rotor, calendar that advances.
Ask which tier before you ask for photos. Price tells you a lot on its own. Nobody builds a properly thin complete calendar and sells it for the cost of a mid-tier three-hander.
Where a copy shows itself
I look at the moon phase first. Genuine discs have crisp stamped stars and a smooth gradient; copies print a flat image. Next, the date pointer. It should sweep in small, even jumps, not snap and wobble. Then the dial texture. Guilloché on a replica is stamped shallow and goes flat in raking light. Finally, flip it over. Rotor engraving, perlage, and bridge shapes are the fastest tells, and caseback shots are the ones sellers crop or angle away from the camera.
Legal and shipping reality
Counterfeit watches are illegal to import into the United States. Customs and Border Protection can seize a shipment and destroy it, and you have no recourse for the money. Buying from a domestic seller carries its own risk. Treat any purchase as uninsured, and remember that "first copy" is a marketing phrase rather than a quality standard.
Bottom line
The 6659 is a bad first replica target. Its whole appeal is thinness and mechanics, and those are the two things copies get wrong. If you want the look on a budget, a mid-tier copy with a working calendar and honest measurements will satisfy more people than a top-tier listing that never delivers the numbers it promises. Get the thickness in millimeters, a straight-on caseback shot, and a video of the moon phase moving before money changes hands.