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BEWARE
THE WORDS 'DISCOUNT' OR 'SPECIAL PRICES' - THOSE CIGARS MAY NOT
BE AUTHENTIC!!
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| At
Cuban Cigars 4 U, we are proud to offer our clients Guaranteed delivery
and Guaranteed authenticity of our genuine Cuban Cigars from the
stated manufacturer.
There are two problems with counterfeit cigars;
*
First there are counterfeit cigars manufactured in the Caribbean
or Central America and packaged to look like Cuban cigars,
*Second are authentic Cuban cigars made with inferior tobacco and
packaged to look like quality brands. Often, one of the first indications
that a cigar product is not what it claims is the use of the words
of "discount" or "specially priced".
The
following information is to help you to identify fakes and counterfeits.
- Your
first assurance of authentic quality is to always purchase your
Cuban cigars from a company whose cigars originate from Habanos
SA & Cuba Tobacco. All cigars sold by Cuban Cigars 4 U come
from Havana House Canada the only legally authorized Canadian importer
of Cuban cigars to Canada by Habanos SA & Cuba Tobacco.
-
First
examine the exterior of the box of cigars you are considering
purchasing;
- All
genuine Cuban cigars have a Republica de Cuba seal
wrapping from the top to the bottom of the box on the left
hand side.
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- The
bottom of the box will be stamped with the name of the factory
and a date code.
- Authentic
boxes will appear brand new and will never show any wear or
damage.
- All
authentic cigars will have a small white sticker on the box
that states "duty paid" .
- The
last exterior indicator that the product is authentic is the
Havana House sticker that is on most of the boxes. (Havana House
is the exclusive Canadian importer and distributor of Habanos).
- If
you have examined the exterior of the box and still have some
doubts about the authenticity of the cigars, there can be some
further indicators on the inside. Begin by examining the overall
appearance, everything should look identical;
- All
of the cigars in the box will have matching wrappers. That
means the color and texture of each cigar should be uniform.
- The
shape, lengths and ring sizes will be identical and should
match perfectly (or as close to perfect as hand made cigars
can be).
- When
you look at the cigars all of the rings will be perfectly
aligned.
- Although
counterfeits can come in many different sizes and designs here
are two different images, the fake one is obvious.
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Over
the Internet companies have many different shipping plans. Some
will ship your cigars without rings, others offer to send you boxes
and rings under separate cover. Some are vague as to with where
the cigars come from. Cuban Cigars 4 U promises that you will always
receive fresh, first quality genuine Cuban cigars, WE GUARANTEE
IT!! The guarantee means;
If
a shipment is lost, our customers are always protected;
Normal
delivery is 7-10 days.
We
are available toll free by calling 1-888-782-1410. Our office
hours are 10:00am to 7:00pm Eastern standard time. We are often
open till 9 PM because we like what we do.
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We
guarantee that the Cuban cigars you receive from us will be 100%
authentic. |
| Cuban
Warranty Seal
by John Chunko Cigarnexus.com |
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| Boxes
of Cuban cigars are now being shipped with a new, updated
Warranty Seal.
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In
a move aimed at making it much more difficult for
counterfeiters to package and sell fake Cuban cigars,
Habanos S.A., the company which is responsible for
the export of Cuban cigars, has modified the look
(both visible and invisible) of the familiar green
and white "Cuban Government Warranty Seal of 1912"
which adorns all legitimate boxes of Havana cigars.
Historically, the Warranty Seal has been one of the
most visible methods of determining whether Cuban
cigars are the real deal... or not. Unfortunately,
with the advent of high resolution scanning technology,
knocking off fake Warranty Seals has been a real snap.
Just scan a Warranty Seal, take it down to your local
Fast print and bingo!... you've got a stack of perfect
looking Seals. As a result, the venerable Warranty
Seal has been nothing more than a box ornament, and
certainly not a guarantee that the cigars were genuine,
as was originally intended. |
Worldwide
retailers and consumers alike have been insisting Habanos
take steps to stem the increasing blight of counterfeit
Cuban cigars. The management of Habanos knows bogus cigars
cut into their profits, not to mention alienating smokers
who quickly become disillusioned with expensive Cuban
cigars that taste unremarkable and don't live up to their
lofty expectations.
The
new Cuban Government Warranty Seal may change all that.
Here's what I found after spending three hours with a
magnifying glass and jeweler's loop under the glare of
a halogen lamp and the wispy glow of my trusty blacklight
(which, BTW, hadn't seen action since I took the aluminum
foil off my walls back in 1971 and cut my shoulder length
hair)...
Color
and Crispness
Under normal
lighting, the first thing I noticed about the new Warranty
Seal is that it's printed much more clearly, and the
green ink used is several shades darker than the previous
version's. I'd call the new green color a "currency
green" as opposed to the old yellowish-green. The Seal's
new green color is very much like the color green printed
on the back side of US currency.
NEW
SEAL
OLD
SEAL
The
clean and crisp printing is a big change too. Although
the Seal is printed offset, the stark sharpness of its
reproduction gives the distinct impression it was printed
the same way stock certificates and currency are...
by intaglio press. I wanted to run my finger across
it, to feel the raised ink... that's how good they look.
Although
the general design and look of the Warranty Seal has
not been significantly modified, the overall artwork
has been improved dramatically... using much finer lines
and darker solids. It appears carefully engraved, just
like currency.
The
Cuban Government Warranty Seal looks important and official
once again. The last time I got this impression was
back in the 50s and 60s when the Warranty Seals were
still perforated like big stamps, and produced by Cia
Impresora de Cuba S.A., a renown engraver and printer
of fine, high quality documents. That look has returned...
it actually helps class up the box.
Design
Changes
Even
though more than 95% of the Warranty Seal is essentially
the same, every square millimeter of the artwork has
been re-engraved and/or re-drawn much more finely and
professionally, yet without altering the overall traditional
look of the Seal.
The
borders, background and central area of the Seal are
nearly identical in detail and form, and the Cuban Republic
Coat of Arms (or Shield), in the oval on the left side
of the Seal, is virtually the same too.
One
piece of art has changed... almost unnoticeable are
the revisions to the Tobacco Field Vignette which appears
in the oval on the right side of the Seal. That scene
-- depicting field workers among rows of tobacco plants,
with a shack and palm trees on hills in the background
-- remains similar to the previous versions... however,
upon close inspection, you will find that it has been
completely redrawn. I can clearly count only five individual
field workers amongst the tobacco plants, with 12 palm
trees on higher ground in the background. FYI, the 1950s
version Seals depicted nine field workers; and the most
recent (1990s version) also showed nine workers (i.e.,
when their printing was sharp enough to make them out.)
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OLD
Seal - Tobacco Field
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NEW
Seal - Tobacco Field
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VERY
OLD
Seal - Tobacco Field
circa 1950's version
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- Wording
Changes
The
wording on the Seal has been changed in three locations.
Beginning at the top of the Seal... the previous version's
English wording "CUBAN GOVERNMENT'S WARRANTY FOR CIGARS
EXPORTED FROM HAVANA" has been changed to now read:
"ORIGIN NATIONAL WARRANTY SEAL
FOR CIGARS AND CUT TOBACCO."
The
wording on the bottom left side of the certificate was
in the French language, and means the same as the English
statement on the top of the Seal. That wording has similarly
been changed (still in French) to now read: "SCEAU
DE GARANTIE D'ORIGINE NATIONALE POUR LES CIGARES ET
LE SCAFERLATI."
Finally,
the German wording on the bottom right of the Seal,
relating the same notice, has also been modified to
now say (in German): "ORIGINAL
GARANTIESIEGEL FUER ZIGARREN UND GERISSENE TABAKBLAETTER."
Micro-Printing
Additions
A
new anti-counterfeiting feature has been added to the
Seal's design... making it difficult -- hopefully impossible
-- to reproduce using modern scanners and color copiers.
There
are two lines of micro-printing on the new Seal. To
the unaided eye, they appear as hair thin green lines
in the border designs... yet, under a jeweler's loop
(14x) these lines are actually made up of letters/words
which translate to, "Seal of Guarantee of the Republic
of Cuba." Micro-printing is similarly employed on US
currency. However, the Seal's micro-printing is not
nearly as perfectly formed as that of US currency. Its
micro-printing suffers from a less exacting printing
process... producing letters which are blurred, blotched
and unevenly spaced... yet, for offset printing, it's
still quite a nice trick.
The
location of the micro-printing lines are: (1) immediately
above the central large words "REPUBLICA DE CUBA" across
the center of the Seal, and (2) beginning immediately
below the words "SERIE A NO. 1" and extending across
the center of the Seal ending under the words "LEY DE
JULIO 16/1912" on the opposite side. (See
diagram below -- red lines indicate the location of
micro-printing.)
In
Spanish, as it appears on the Seal, the micro-printed
words which repeat continuously and form both lines
are, "SELLO DE GARANTIA REPUBLICA
DE CUBA." (Note: Spaces between words are
non-existent and/or minimized on the Seal.)
Another
totally new feature is an eight digit serial
number which is printed at the bottom center
of the Seal in red ink. The first two digits
are letters, such as "AR" and the last six
digits are numerals, such as "072164". This
red serial number is printed over a white
background.
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‹
| Havana
House's Ugly Seal
Many
national distributors of Cuban cigars
have taken even quicker action on their
own... Canada's distributor, for example.
In 1998, in an effort to frustrate cigar
counterfeiters and gray market importers,
Havana House, the key importer and distributor
of Cuban cigars in Canada, created it's
own "seal of authenticity" to be affixed
to all boxes of Cuban cigars retailed
in Canada. The white, purple and teal
seals are plasticized and actually self-destruct
if they are removed from the cigar box.
In theory, this prevents them from easily
being reused or reproduced.
I
think that while they assure authenticity
they are really ugly, and do not compliment
the cigar box. Fine, handmade Cuban
cigars and their boxes are beautiful
of themselves. Havana House's stickers
do guarantee that you are getting the
real thing in Canada even if they are
not very pretty. . |
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Under
UV Light... Secrets Are Revealed
In
a darkened room, under a blacklight (i.e., a UV light
source), the Seal reveals two more anti-counterfeiting
measures.
The
first measure relates to the serial number... under
UV lighting, the numerical part (i.e., the last six
digits) of the serial number appears black, while the
letters part (i.e., the first two characters) still
appear red... a neat trick.
The
second measure appears in the center of the Seal, positioned
directly above the serial number. Under UV light, it
glows as a faint pinkish watermark. The image density
is extremely light, as you would expect with a watermark.
However, if you spend enough time squinting at it, you
will see it is, in fact, the Cuban Republic Coat of
Arms (i.e., the same Shield which is also pictured in
the oval on the left side of the Seal and printed in
green).
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| Bolivar,
Cabanas, Cohiba,
Cuaba, Diplomatico,
Fonseca, H. Upmann,
Hoyo De Monterrey, Montecristo,
Partagas, Por
Larranaga, Rafael Gonzales,
El Rey Del Mundo, Romeo
Y Julieta, Saint Luis Rey,
San Cristobal De La Habana,
Trinidad,
Vegas Robaina. |
Genuine
Cuban Cigars available from CubanCigars4U. We ship all Cuban cigars
with bands and in the original wrappers. If by the box then factory
sealed. Your guarantee of freshness and authenticity.
Discrete delivery for the USA. We do not ship cigars in Canada.
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