Wow, this is scary stuff. I'd watched a couple of his videos on Youtube, he seemed on the up and I would of certainly fell for it too.
Saw this today
https://timeandtidewatches.com/horol...rolex-daytona/
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
Yes, it's taken a couple of days to read and I figured it had been closed when I saw it had stuck on 52 pages all day.
I would agree the mods were heavy handed, banning someone towards the end for 'victim shaming' for example....the banning of someone that posted their bad experience (although got their money back eventually) but somehow managed to get themselves banned 6 posts later.....good grief
Scottish Watches podcast have just released an interview with the buyer of the Daytona, so chapter and verse on from one side at least
The guy has ripped people off for sure, but I’m not sure we, as interested observers, will get much more out of it now. People seem to be expecting him to resurface at some point and tell us all about it. But we’re talking about accusations of fairly substantial fraud here. If he has any sense he would’ve taken some legal advice. And I’d wager part of that advice would be to lay low, not comment on it publicly and not engage on social media about it. His reputation has been destroyed beyond repair, he has nothing to gain by reappearing at this stage, just more to lose. I’d be very surprised if the watch community ever sees or hears from him again.
If his alleged gambling habit is true, then I expect he was involved in a big Ponzi scheme he set up to stay afloat after some escalating losses. Then he tried to get it back with the big pay day that just lead to more losses, more excuses, more delays, etc. Then finally the desperation sale of the fake Daytona. He doesn’t seem to have operated as a con man. Maybe if he really dropped off the face of the earth and took a lot more people’s money.
That would be my guess based on the limited info available. Classic addiction behavior slowly overtaking everything in their lives and leaving a pile of rubble in their wake.
Of course that doesn’t excuse his alleged behavior in any way. It just explains the motive for the actions.
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Last edited by Dr.Brian; 18th February 2020 at 11:44.
Any new news on this? Can’t help but be a little curious about what happened to Chris, did he sell more fakes, did people get paid back, did he go to court, are there new allegations???
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He registered for GST on 1st Jan 2020 and backdated it to 10th April 2017.
How far it has been backdated to is quite telling in how far the fraud (of GST at least) must go back to.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8gKx-gnEsz/
For those that haven't heard the interview with the customer who was sold the fake Daytona, here it is:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRb0ceZESuA&t=1s
The vast majority of people probably will still watch his videos and he will keep getting tens of thousands of views per video. That will net him significant ad revenue - a few thousand $ per video.
If he keeps comments off he’ll shield himself from the majority of public negativity.
Big question for me is now if he brings his strap business back to life. I can’t see him being too involved in the community - probably won’t ever get any tie ins with brands or collaborations with other watch people for example.
I think he will double down on YouTube and straps. He will still make decent money from both.
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Issue with reviews is he was borrowing watches off people to do the reviews. Didn't the person who loaned him the SD43 struggle to get it back? Did they get it back at all? That will limit his exposure to other watches to review.
I hadn’t heard about that. This guy is a gift that keeps on giving.
He will have friends I’m sure who he can borrow watches from
Isn’t he still part of that Australian Facebook group too. When this news first broke he did have a loyal band of apologists who have stuck by him!
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Someone has set up an Instagram page with his old handle (@horologyhouse) and it is brutal
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Horology House - The Lost TV News Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddxePSNXMXU
Brought to you by Scottish Watches
Would you buy a second-hand car from this man?
Last edited by abraxas; 27th February 2020 at 23:46.