Reply With QuoteGood riddance.
Just noticed this. Apologies if it's been posted elsewhere, I did search the forum before posting!
Good riddance.
He’s no longer working with WatchBox, hasn’t left YouTube.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The Watchbox thing didn't last long.
He hasn’t closed it, the thumbnail is click bait. His one year deal with WatchBox ended, they didn’t renew, and he’s having to get a regular job instead of doing UG full time. I’m pretty sure that’s what he used to do anyway.
One year contract, not renewed.Originally Posted by Papa Hotel
Yes a charlatan and a narcissistic p***k with not that much knowledge of watches.
Watchbox finally came to their senses and got rid.
Last edited by klunk; 3rd June 2020 at 17:23.
Might want to edit that post!
I'm just curios: on what do you base this statement?
I agree. Not strong enough :)
Haha I agree too! He really does seem like a totally disingenuous scumbag.
Ok I may have missed a lot as I have only seen a few of his videos. I am not a big YouTube user but surely he was better than Archie?
What has he done to deserve such ire?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've enjoyed watching most of his vids
OK he his a bit pretentious to the point of being corny, but so what
will watch with interest
That means you haven't seen all the "watch reviewers" from youtube... I came across some really weird idiots... TGV is definitely not one of them. It may be a little too "precious", that is correct, but scumbag? Are you for real?
I thought he was better than most, a little pretentious perhaps. Was there a scandal or something? Was he a scumbag?
He is pretentious, but overall I find him likeable and his content usually well researched. A real watch enthusiast and doesn’t have an agenda. Seems overly obsessed with putting everything on a NATO strap.
Last edited by ac11111; 3rd June 2020 at 19:54.
I like him, he has a nice manner doesn't seem pretentious and hes an enthusiast.
Since Covid 19 became a thing, YouTubers in every niche have been claiming that 'the algorithm' is not promoting them properly. What's really going on is way more complex, but thinking YouTube is one single algorithm makes me want to scream. Spoiler alert: it isn't.
Last edited by JustinC; 4th June 2020 at 14:44.
http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/2020/06/03/10224/
Interesting - and probably highly likely - take on the matter.
Not sure it's completely closed?
not really a crime in the wonderful world of today's internet
the guy has put a lot of effort into his vids, they are professionally done and thought out.
I don't think he should in any way be "knocked" - but there is so much hatred and jealousy in the world today
Last edited by BillN; 3rd June 2020 at 20:40.
Yeah I really dont get the hatred for this guy. I look forward to his enthusiastic videos. And looking at his views quite a few others are as well
Sent from my SM-G975F using TZ-UK mobile app
Something fishy going on with TGV...I have been a subscriber for years but always found his humour cringeworthy. I was only ever there for the watches, not weird intro clips featuring Hugo a plastic t-Rex figurine
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
cringeworthy is the word..........an Englishman in New York of Italian descent
but cut through all that and he produces got vids with useful and interesting info on watches that most of us an interested in
His vids are far far better than the usual youtube rubbish
I did love his review of the Zenith Chronomaster Moonphase compared to the Watchbox review.
TGV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0urnUVBlk
Watchbox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WshUOuaPDY
While the Watchbox review packs more expertise into a shorter video, TGV's had more passion and better photography.
no contest with those two videos.
I dont get the hate some have,you dont have to watch them.
I mostly enjoyed his videos, there was an element of pretension but I just took it as his online persona, much like Pluta coming across as an incoherent, alcoholic, man baby.
I’m sure he was compensated well for his channel and was paid well for the year he spent under WB’s aegis.
As a known ‘face’ he will probably start another channel up pretty soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Always liked his enthusiasm, especially for the cheaper pieces. I liked how he didn't make a review unless he had the watch in the metal as well, so many YouTubers are just talking over the top of a stock photo.
He's got a distinct style that might not be for everyone, but I don't really get the hate for him.
Nick Shabazz is the only one i can bear.
Do you have any more info on YouTube algorithms?
It would help me to understand a little more how they work.
Ways came across as a prick, not sure anything has changed.
Fair play to anyone for monetising a hobby, but I wasn’t a fan of his slightly smug style. To each their own...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Top secret. I’m sure there’s some general guidelines if you check their partner marketing pages, but nothing specific
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I really don't understand the hate expressed by a few on here - no doubt a touch of the green-eyed monster. There are far worse channels out there, and I do wonder how many TZ members would opt to make a living just talking about watches if they had the chance to do so (quite a few, I imagine, including me).
TZ can be rather mean-spirited at times, and it's a trait that I don't like at all. Personally, I wish the bloke well.
I always found him OK, liked some of his reviews, I like the effort he puts in to his videos and I like his passion for the subject.
I wish he throw away that stupid plastic dinosaur.
Quite.
It would do us all good to know a bit more. I feel like this about a lot of companies who are in a position that is overpowering in the market place.
Well said.
I couldn't stand his emphasis on his aristocratic (real or imagined) background, his accent and his general take on watches. So I personally didn't watch more than a few of his videos.
However having read that piece linked from Scottish Watches, I do feel some sympathy for him; if as seems likely, he's been sucked in, sold his brand to Watch box, then spat out and been prevented from running a watch channel for a period of time. When companies start talking of leveraging their position, you know someone's onto a hiding. So good luck to the chap, even if I may not be watching when he returns.
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Definitely worse channels out there and yes TZ can be a bit mean spirited at times but in no way shape or form is it a touch of the green eyed monster for me personally. I would absolutely hate to be a youtuber or even famous at all - be it A or Z list.
I know Adrian from Bark & Jack in real life and although he's not an encyclopedic fountain of knowledge (he doesn't claim to be) he knows more than enough to be interesting and makes good, well edited content so I'm more than happy to watch his channel along with others. It probably helps that he doesn't come across as smug the entire time.
I certainly don't wish the guy any ill at all, I just can't stand him so have his page blocked on YouTube. Also if I worked in watches I think it would ruin the hobby for me so that's one way I wouldn't like to make a living.
I agree. While there were moments in his videos where I cringed, overall I would gladly watch them. They were well-executed and his enthusiasm shone through. It was also nice to see him going beyond the usual suspects in terms of watches. His take on the Seiko Alien bracelet was right on the money.
From what I can gather, he moved to the US a year ago to work with Watchbox. If he is now out on his ear, that’s hardly something to crow about. Some members here have already lost their jobs and many more (me included) are looking at autumn and the prospect of bankruptcies with some apprehension.
I wish him well.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Interesting article. Very plausible points.
Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
I don't think it's genuine mean-spiritedness, more a case of a bored keyboard warrior being a bit irresponsible with the insults. I dare say, or at least hope, he now regrets it.
It you are running a video series on something like watches, you will never please everybody all of the time and will have a run of a few years at most . I would have rated him at 7/10.
Anyway let's hope something turns up for him.
Never liked his videos.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The first video I saw of his started with him saying “sorry guys, just gotta run for my flight back to London” as if we’d started filming him?! His style was pretty cringe at times but weird how quickly you get used to it and quite enjoyed having the odd video on in the background - did appreciate the detail and production vs other channels.
Found this entertaining https://youtu.be/Jj5XFY7nfy4
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
I rather warmed to his watch chats - I liked the fact that he emphasised you could enjoy a £50 Timex as much as a £10K Rolex - that was a great positive attitude to share.
He kept banging on about that though...I wish him luck nonetheless
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I try to avoid most YouTube 'experts' for two reasons:
1. I don't know if they are genuinely knowledgeable or just frontmen or posers, but mostly because;
2. A lot of them are, as far as I'm concerned, extremely annoying narcissists.
I avoid most motorcycle YouTube 'experts' for the same reasons.
I agree.
When I first started watching, I was not a fan of his aesthetic. But over the hours logged watching his videos - he won me over. I learned a lot about watches from his videos. I liked that he would review all price ranges, do quality comparisons across luxury and economical price points and I liked the top 10 watches videos.
When I heard the channel was closing, I was definitely surprised and sad - so I guess that means I was a fan.
There is no way I could do a channel, for the simple reason that it is very hard to stick to quality content all the time.
So hats off to those that try.
Having said that, most of the channels I have watched seem, at times, to descend into a lot of narcissitic content, or simple innaccuracies, because they need to generate volume.
It is very hard to consistently generate the required amount of informed and good, accurate, opinionated content that will hold the interest of an audience regularly.
I didn't like The Urban Gentry very much, he seemed a little self-obsessed and keen to signal virtues that didn't ring true. But, in his favour, he was a genuine enthusiast, and that showed.
The one channel that seems never to have dipped of quality in is the Watchfinder one, which I have found genuinely informative and interesting most of the time that I have watched their content. But it can afford to be, it is part of a large commercial organisation.
And that's the problem. Independents who can cover the ground and generate good stuff are at a disadvantage to a full, paid for, production set up.
And an in anything, it is the independents who really speak their mind, rather than follow an agenda.
So I hope he finds his way back to it, even if I will not be watching
Dave
I don't hate him. There's no spite involved. Certainly no jealousy. For a start, because until the watchbox deal, when all bets are off, while he was just monetising his content in the usual way, it's probably safe to say a lot of us here were earning more than him. YouTube is not as lucrative as people think when you're only in the hundreds of thousands of subscribers territory. Also, I wouldn't put my face on YouTube for anything less than an absolute fortune, because the last thing I want is the limelight.
I do however think, as someone who subscribes to about a dozen different watch related YouTube channels, that his content was terrible, his watch knowledge and research were lacking, and by all accounts his business practices were shady.
Posting Permissions