If you watch YouTube you may be familiar with these grey watch dealers - extravagant lifestyle,customers funding their expansion via a $2k subscription,fast cars and expensive restaurants.Well they appear to have vanished and a lot of people had consigned their watches with them.Last few episodes showed disagreement with the 2 main guys,a terrible system for accounting(cover up for now?) It will be interesting to find out the true story.....?
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Last edited by amcneill; 30th June 2021 at 08:22.
Oh dear. Can’t imagine why you would place your watch with them but sounds like it’s very unlikely those watches will reappear again.
Must admit I’d sit and watch their channel. Found it very amusing. Always thought something doesn’t add up though
I’ve watched their channel - always taken it with a pinch of salt as it never really stacked up, but it was quite entertaining until recently. Amazed that people were handing over $2,000 to basically pay for a $2,000,0000 store fit out in return for membership to a FB group to get supposedly cheaper watches. Not sure how many joined. They seemed to have a lot of watches on consignment so I hope all those people get them back.
Not looking good and if it turns out the latest ‘drama’ was to attention seek to promote a relaunch i think it will fall very flat…
As soon as the $ 2000 ‘become a VIP’ …donation was announced and the pole dancer appeared It quickly went South…..
How they thought they could run a ‘shop’ without any software / accounting system to reconcile purchases, sales and payments or perform bank reconciliations is mind bending, using a (sweetshop) spreadsheet at that level bizarre…..and no sign of stock checks ?….
I do hope for those who trusted them with their watches or invested don’t get burned and somehow they reappear and tidy things up…
Also hope the have not burned their early investor as people who charge 15% on big chunks undoubtedly have decent collection processes….
Does anyone believe this business can continue? Would you trust these people with your watches/ money. Thought not….
They will probably go on to bigger and greater things..this stunt has the social media/Youtube world in a frenzy every content maker is feeding off of the corpse..you have hundreds of followers waiting on the Gentlemen Timepiece channel for an announcement that is 3 days away.Originally Posted by paskinner
Anthony is driven he is not in this to make a few hundred dollars on a watch he is always looking at the bigger picture. maybe a TV programme in the Netflix/Amazon day in the life schedule.
The constant flexing the bragging spending tens of thousands of dollars on a meal at their favourite establishments all funded for by those who fall for this BS
Anyone who is capable of convincing people to invest $2000 into a club that basically offers nothing but maybe 1 watch per month at cost is taking full advantage of the hype that currently exists fueled by Social media.
Our hobby is an extremely fickle world where most getting involved in recent years have no idea whatsoever what they are buying spending many thousands on something they know absolutely nothing about but must have a piece of the action because someone somewhere has told them there is money to be made selling watches.
Social media watch forums have become the Wildwest where everyone is a watch dealer selling pieces for what a reputable bricks and mortar established dealer would ask.
its Nuts but the modern world loves it.
The have posted a video.... or a planned video.....looking like a stunt....or else they are gonna turn it into a stunt.
It was pretty obvious that the guy has a history of major criminality. I mean, would you have trusted money to an ex-jailbird. Funny to watch given all the preening and display.
For regular viewers of the show you may remember Anthony walking through an airport alongside other passengers and trying to buy this guys LV bag - guy says no and he tries to talk him around with no luck.That really stood out as strange.
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I don't watch the YouTube channel, but i've been loosely following what's happening and the whole thing is crazy. Collecting $2m in $2000 "donations" to build out their store, in return for access to a Facebook group which promises the investor materially nothing? Lunacy. Frankly a lot of it comes down to Rolex supply/demand, I don't think "TPG" would have existed without the dynamics we're seeing with Rolex today.
Everything about them looked dodgy af
What Happened to Gentleman Timepieces
Last edited by J J Carter; 30th June 2021 at 08:56.
Archie has popped up
https://youtu.be/9GZPY-uzSgE
Just how dumb are we supposed to be? This scam is led by a convicted fraudster who already served two jail sentences. What more do you want?
If it was a scam, I'd say it was a very unusual one going to the extent of making a netflix style reality show about it before disappearing with everyones money.
Was he previously done for fraud? All I can find on google are two sentences for DUI?
Last edited by Christian; 3rd July 2021 at 14:05.
You might take a different approach where the bulk of local dealers are seen as honest and straightforward. I think UK dealers are decent and reliable , in my experience anyway. The likes of Anthony Farrer, very different indeed, but easy to spot I would have thought. The last thing we need here is criminality introduced into business.
Given that their faces are known in HD and their names are known I have no doubt they will turn up at the bottom of a river somewhere. Sound a right pair of cretins. With millions of $ of consignment inventory how are they going to shift it though?
Interesting, I do not think it will reflect very well on any pre-owned dealers associated with them or the pre-owned watch industry in general.
Looks like all their Chrono24 listings have been removed.
I can really see this being a marketing stunt gone completely wrong. Anthony's a showman, would he really want to give up the limelight?
‘Do not stop, go straight to jail.’ The only way this will end. A lot of people may lose their possessions.
I always liked Marco he seemed like a cool guy very knowledgeable and passionate about vintage Rolex ,Anthony always came across as a douchbag .A lot of new grey dealers have sprung up in the last few years due to the difficulty of getting many watches from AD
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Mexican riviera gentleman?
As others have said it’s not really a surprise. I haven’t watched any of the more recent ones - did they ever sign the lease on the big new premises?
The theory that they are pulling some kind of PR stunt is out of the question now as it’s all over every social media platform and their reputation is shot to bits.
:D don't think Anthony is allowed to leave the country as a convicted felon... but maybe he did anyway? :P
I quite enjoy watching their show, although it started becoming less and less about watches and more about "flexing". I can't help but feel this is all part of a publicity stunt, only to re-launch with a new brand and location. If that's the case, they need to do it soon, as they must be close to irreversible damage to the company now.
It's all very strange.
Assume 1000 mugs paid the $2,000 to become 'associates' = $2M
Multi $M of watches to be sold on consignment, either sold for untraceable bitcoin or taken
Watches supplied by other dealers but not yet paid also taken
Fake super-clone Rolex sold to punters?
Could be a $10M to $15M scam
Last edited by J J Carter; 30th June 2021 at 16:22.
I think it started as a PR stunt. Then they added the “charity” aspect to try and shame all the people calling them out.
The critising social media aspect is bizzare when they are total social media whores.
The end of the video with Antony and his lawyer on the phone “strategising” against Archie trying to make him post videos is embarrassing.
A total shambles.
But hey, interesting enough but reality is they are a small time dealer with a high social media reach.
Such an odd approach to PR I must say. I can’t imagine this not backfiring on them.
- purposefully go dark in an attempt to make themselves look dodgy and run a social experiment
- collate all the responses to their previous friendly social media mates saying ‘it looks dodgy’
- call their ex mates out for saying it looks dodgy
What were they expecting? I’ve bailed out of following them. Complete muppets.
Saw it was an hour long explanation video, watched a random 2 minutes of some chad in a baseball cap droning on monotonousy and closed the tab out of boredom. Am none the wiser but at least they've given all the usual watch youtubers (Archie, Paul Thorpe etc) something to bang on about for an hour each and call it 'content'. The ultimate self-licking lollipop.
Just watched their explanation video - it was nauseating. They've come up with a disingenuous story about taking time out to do some charitable work that sounded like a back covering story. Don't think the whole episode will do them many favours, and will have damaged a lot of the consignment business that dealers rely on in the US.
I didn’t watch much but I remember them saying they were generally happy to make 1-2k on a watch. Seemed very low compared to Watch Finder etc
I ignore all the YouTube channels / Instagram dealers with the exception of Tim Mosso and maybe Jenni Elle.
As soon as you are publicly blowing cash on luxury products away from your core business of watches, the business is doomed. Not that I watch Archie, but I understand he called out this behaviour by TPG in April. And who would sell a watch on consignment and have it no longer in your possession?
The whole flaunting of a wannabe luxury lifestyle is just incredibly distasteful
D
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Word. Almost the biggest shame in all the distasteful ness is the pall that these channels &c spread across otherwise bona fide brands, particularly I suppose Rolex, Patek and Journe.
Do you know a watch dealer who would give you an expensive watch and give no clear timeframe for paying the money? Nope nor do I
People giving watches on consignment must have rocks in their head.
You would think the TPG going dark would be a warning to those thinking of such a thing.
I’ve unsubscribed, and won’t watch any more of their content.
They told Archie they would pay him to advertise on his fridge. And then they didn’t and he blew his lid.
He is every bit as much a fraud as they are really and would sell his soul for a 5er online.
No-one from the $2,000 VIP club is posting with outrage.
No-one that has a watch on consignment with them is posting with outrage.
I'm still leaning towards a publicity stunt, a poor one at that.
yea, archie was co-labbing with them and as soon as the fridge advert money never came he went wild. now hes making loads of vids about them and wallowing in the whole drama
Maybe a left-field suggestion, by I reckon TTG was ultimately the creation of the big Swiss brands such as Rolex, AP and PP.
Who wants to make the grey market dealers look bad and scare punters back to the ADs?
Who is sick of their company being defined by a couple of pieces such the Royal Oak or 5711 trading at crazy multiples of RRP
Who has the cash reserves to create TTG from nothing and get such as social media presence?
Who could provide TTG with their initial stock of high-end pieces?
Yes! This! But there's more to this story...
Who wants it to LOOK like we landed on the moon? Omega
Who wants us to THINK there's the same amount of time in every day? COSC
Who wants us to BELIEVE trousers should extend beyond the ankle? Longines
The Swiss have a lot to answer for
🤣 Not understanding much of what’s going on here, but this made me laugh
The guy has a bad prison record and seems to think playing games with other peoples money is just fine, he must be ruined after this behaviour, anyone who still trusts him…….
The behaviour of fellow dealers was a real eye-opener.
What is his prison record for? All I can find are 2 DUIs.
Two lengthy prison sentences for fraud. He freely admitted it. Hard to avoid.
Wow. Exactly the guy not to trust with selling your watch!
Fraud...? Thought he had DUI driving under influence x2
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See link below. It was posted on YouTube 5 days ago and at the same time as The Timepiece Gentlemen’s last video, and well before it all kicked off today. Someone knew something was up?
https://youtu.be/87rTr1NjI5o
I’ve been watching their videos for a few months. If this turns out to be a scam, it’s a beautiful scam.
Last edited by noTAGlove; 30th June 2021 at 23:37.
How anyone could look at them, listen to them for no more than 30 seconds, and not place had firmly over wallet as one backs slowly away is beyond me.
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