Unless it’s an AD, I would stay away from the following when buying a watch: kids in the business (under 30), tattoos, rap or hip-hop music enthusiasts,pictures of Scarface on the wall, non- college educated and talking with street slang.
It amazes me how many grey market dealers don’t think their business attire matters. I like Roman Scharf but won’t buy from LB because of their clothing choices.
Tpt family is in the jewelry buisness for decades , they get their watches directly from Ads from middle East and Asia but I hate watch dealers acting like narco dealers with hifi lifestyle , cars and jets but it's the same story in the middle East . Watch dealers driving around in luxury cars , mansions and jets
@@vinnyfranciswatchesYou’re correct Vinny that in the uk spending funds is embezzlement BUT he probably didn’t list the items as stock with his business or the sale of the watches on his accounts
With the exception of one watch dealer I have got to know over the past few years, I can confidently say virtually every other dealer I have had the misfortune to meet, are completely full of 💩
Well said Vinney. Shame that some guys drag the whole industry down. The old story seems to apply now more than ever - find a dealer you trust and stick with them.
I really like your virtual consignment approach, it is clearly a far better service that really provides the exact same exposure to the watch and gains all the same benefits of your professional services, without all the risk. Good, honest video. Thank you!
Well done for calling out the legitimacy of this ‘alleged’ $5m. Probably a hyper exaggeration to garner yet more publicity to feed his insatiable ego 🤦♂️ Great idea on the virtual consignment by the way 👏
Anthony, The Tiny Thief, has serious mental issues. He thinks everyone else's money is his money and he's entitled to it without question. Serious #bipolar issues.
Lol why do you paid trolls like watch videos? I'm trying to figure out what is the social fabric you're looking to influence here... Fucking bizarre, for Russian and Chinese trolls to be interested in watches 😅
Great honest video mate. Love your comments about the 'flashy' dealers. Need to be mindful of the 'flashy' ex dealers who are in bed with current dealers.
It really shouldn’t piss you off because it happens more often than you think it does. All around the world, not just the United States. It’s only become widely known outside of the watch industry because of social media. But this kind of stuff has gone on for decades and much more often than 99 percent of people outside of the watch world or on the fringe as just a buyer and seller…..
I feel that there’s so much spin and smoke & mirrors with these grey market dealers these days. I contacted a dealer for an “unworn” aquanaut. Contacted him and it wasn’t unworn. It had been polished to unworn condition. I mean, that’s just a straight lie!
I've bought from grey dealers with no problems, always with due diligence. in my experience the vast majority of successful dealers (AD or secondary) are far too busy to spend too much time on social media. There were many who bigged up TPG when his star was on the rise. We all know who they are.🤣🤣🤣🤣Good video Vinny.
Good to hear, annoyingly SM is now a necessity, not really optional i feel for any business anymore, we even started tiktok last week God help me😅 Personally I cannot understand why a commercial manager was not hired to manage it like a business and not a free for all
@@vinnyfranciswatches I get that. I just hope people have learned from all this BS to have a modicum of scepticism towards the flexers. We can get back to watches and Two Tugs can make his pile selling paper cups.
I don’t know US laws but usually when somebody invest money in your business and there is prove that as a CEO you act in bad manners, means taking money from the company or using it in a bad way or whichever reprovable action yes there’s a debt to the investors, definatly. That’s something a judge decide.
14 Million Euro lost in Germany. International dealer was robbed in Berlin in December 2022. Spectacular coup. All watches on consignment. Difficulties wirh insurance. Company bankrupt in Germany. Seems the clients lost money and watches....
No offense, but anyone with half a brain would've known this from the start and not dealt with him. I find it funny when people act as though this was something shocking or couldn't be seen coming (roman, etc.)... i watched the "omg we got fooled and it was good business and couldn't be seen coming" 😅
i cant bring myself to buy from the grey market watch trader i almost bought last week but after doing some checks the company had no assets so now i will just wait for the ads to call they do just have to wait a little
Sellers need to have reasonable expectations as well. Its not just on the grey dealers. Your Rolex aint worth yesterday's price. If you bought one to flip or make money off of, good luck.
We of course do all of the necessary physical authentication checks when the watch is initially sent to us for photography, as well as watch register reports and our own health check on the timegrapher
Watch dealers are like second hand car dealers shady.the robber was even more slimey knew what he was doin lived the life to the full .on some one elses money
Buy low sell high. Find a crowd that has disposable income. Appear to be on the level with that revenue stream. Watches, art, real estate, automobiles, aircraft etc. It used to be considered less than honorable business, it should be. Buy low from a client who is liquidating and sell high to people who do not know that they are being fleeced. Nothing good about it.
With respect such a sweeping generalisation is completely incorrect and nonsense. There are many genuine professionals in this industry with a great wealth of expertise on these timepieces, greater than authorised dealers themselves. Much more work than just buying and selling goes into it. Servicing, health reports, history checks, ultrasonic cleaning, fast distribution, repairs, refurbs, and free expert advice all goes in from dealers who are professionals. Please do your research before attempting to sum up our trade with a generalisation.
Vinny, do you see this scandal causing watch prices to fall, or do you see it pushing them up? I can imagine ways it could make either thing happen: it could scare sellers, drying up supply, and causing prices to rise, or it could put dealers out of business, making them liquidate all their stocks, which would depress prices. Maybe it will have no effect at all. Keen for your take.
Interesting question. The high profile nature of this i think has cast a industry wide shadow on consignment, before this was a limited to the community now it’s more widespread. People will now think harder before they consign and those dealers who rely on it may see a fall in supply, but that just means those pieces will be bought instead by others so it strengthens the hand of cash rich dealers
Consignment is a way grey dealers operate without enough of their own capital. If a grey dealer is any good he would buy your watch and add it to his stock like any used car dealer. Best advice - NEVER consign your asset to a dealer so they can use your watch to create their capital and help with their cash flow and liquidity.
dealer steals 5 million of clients moneys and the entire industry is mudded by it, my reporting isn’t going to be ‘ah well never mind let’s all kiss and make up and be positive’😂
Viny if I were in the market I would for sure buy a watch from you. Absolutely no doubt I would. I would say to you find me the absolutely best watch you can find at the best price. Then trust. The trust is the main part. That’s all we are looking for. It’s not that hard. I will be looking for a SS Datejust soon hopefully I can find a guy like you here in Canada.
@@vinnyfranciswatches thanks Vinny hopefully you will cut through all the garbage and come on top of the silliness that has happened over the past few years. Fly by night guys will come and go but the people like me know how to spot them a mile away. I have been on the sidelines of buying any watches for the past 3 years because of the silliness. It looks like things are getting better and the cream is rising. I am sure you will flourish in the future. These watches aren’t like buying a pretzel off a street vendor. The REAL buyers don’t work that way. Thank goodness it is getting back to some kind of normal.
Great stuff Vinny...Your consignment plan really does seem a sound approach. The noise have been hearing over the last couple of weeks because of TPG has been utterly tiresome eh?
A guy and a watch doesn’t make a corporation or business regardless of what he says the watch cost. A guy, watch and website isn’t much better. Don’t give your money or expensive personal property to anyone to hold on to so they can sell it. They’ll take your shit and use it for their needs. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone to take your watch to sell it. A buyer isn’t going to peel off $50k and give it to the middleman to go get your watch and you damn sure shouldn’t give him your watch to walk off into the sunset with either. Just saying
That was absolutely epic. Thanks Vinny... great job, nothing to add. We've got the same mentality about the truths and lies of the internet. Or life in general.
Lesson that should be learnt here Vinny is never consign your watch. If dealers are good at what they do then they should be able to pay for stock.It’s the same in any business
This is a good point though, especially now, everyone wants more money for their watch so you can understand the temptation, take the £10k of company a or the £11 off company b in a few weeks, it’s very alluring and plays on greed.
I personally don’t trust watch dealers outside of the AD. Too many fakes, Frankenstein watches and inexperienced dealers in the market. If they can take Adam Levine with a couple of fake watches, imagine what they’ll do to you and I! 😅😅😅
@@vinnyfranciswatches LOL, I hear you but it still doesn’t make it right that he was scammed by a gray market dealer… sometimes it’s better to pay a little more to get piece of mind
I feel sorry his victims but it's a reality check not to trust a valuable asset in the hands of an ex-con who's spending money like a lottery winner on a bender!! Crazy really how people get sucked in by social media hype
Hard to trust anyone other than Vinny. After TPG and so many other broken trust stories in the watch world, especially heightened risk in a downward trending market.
A few days have past since this episode so how long did it take before Paul Thorpe contacted you trying to convince you consignment is 💯% safe in the U.K and to come on his channel saying you were wrong 😂😂
"We want to associate with him because he is successful" - No! What is wrong with this generation? From the first look the man's image screamed "conman", and every video would pound it more and more into your head. No one in their right mind should do serious business with him. What happened to our standards?
I purchased a Rolex in April 2022 the watch is probably down in value by £8,500 but I love the watch, & at 69 years old, I wasn’t prepared to wait 7 years 🙏
Experience of mine: I entered a few watchstore in my workclothes , my comanycar parking in front of the shop. The coworker or the owner look at me like a leper and explane me that this watches, sold in their store, may be out of my financial possibilities and asked me to leave!! A few days later i came back in (one!) of my sportscars, dressed in suit, the money in the pocket ! They liked to sell me the world and more! After a few seconds they recognized me from the days before! What a shame! A good advice to all these conzessionairs and dealers: never judge a man for what you see, because a rich man never shows what he owns!!!!! Or in the other way: dont believe the show of the blenders and liars, inform before judge and you will be surprised that there is most of the time no substance behind the facade!!!! Sorry for my english, i am italian!!
@@vinnyfranciswatches I don’t think that the CPO market will work for them. What do you honestly think my chances are of getting a GMT oyster Batman from an AD? I registered my interest at 3 different places in 2021 just before the hype started.
video was made 7 months ago when his troubles were all just rumours, way before we knew any detail…no defending going on here so i don’t know what you’re talking about
@@vinnyfranciswatches the writing was on the wall for more than 2 years that AF was a scammer, but you said that you wouldn't be surprised if he bounced back, and claimed that the rest of the people who condemned him were exaggerating! so it comes across as if you're defending him...
Unless it’s an AD, I would stay away from the following when buying a watch: kids in the business (under 30), tattoos, rap or hip-hop music enthusiasts,pictures of Scarface on the wall, non- college educated and talking with street slang.
It amazes me how many grey market dealers don’t think their business attire matters. I like Roman Scharf but won’t buy from LB because of their clothing choices.
Tpt family is in the jewelry buisness for decades , they get their watches directly from Ads from middle East and Asia but I hate watch dealers acting like narco dealers with hifi lifestyle , cars and jets but it's the same story in the middle East . Watch dealers driving around in luxury cars , mansions and jets
😂😂😂
Beware of the red flags
@@thereissomecoolstuffeven if roman wore a 2000 dollar suit I wouldn’t give my money to him.
Hahhaa, tbh mate out of all these watch channels you 100% come across as the most genuine out of them all
Thanks a lot, very kind of you to say, have a nice weekend
@@vinnyfranciswatchesYou’re correct Vinny that in the uk spending funds is embezzlement BUT he probably didn’t list the items as stock with his business or the sale of the watches on his accounts
With the exception of one watch dealer I have got to know over the past few years, I can confidently say virtually every other dealer I have had the misfortune to meet, are completely full of 💩
Fantastically explained and given. Finally someone who is not afraid to be himself and honest. 🙏🙏
Thanks Stephen, have a great weekend
Well said Vinney. Shame that some guys drag the whole industry down.
The old story seems to apply now more than ever - find a dealer you trust and stick with them.
I really like your virtual consignment approach, it is clearly a far better service that really provides the exact same exposure to the watch and gains all the same benefits of your professional services, without all the risk. Good, honest video. Thank you!
I appreciate that! thanks
Why would the scammer him self say it is five million if it actually is less?
Exactly! wtf is this guy even talking about, im sure its probably well over 5million.
Well done for calling out the legitimacy of this ‘alleged’ $5m. Probably a hyper exaggeration to garner yet more publicity to feed his insatiable ego 🤦♂️ Great idea on the virtual consignment by the way 👏
Given his spending habits, given the volume of watches that were consigned and the profit margins on regular watch trades
5 million seems right
Anthony, The Tiny Thief, has serious mental issues. He thinks everyone else's money is his money and he's entitled to it without question. Serious #bipolar issues.
Lol why do you paid trolls like watch videos?
I'm trying to figure out what is the social fabric you're looking to influence here...
Fucking bizarre, for Russian and Chinese trolls to be interested in watches 😅
Great honest video mate. Love your comments about the 'flashy' dealers. Need to be mindful of the 'flashy' ex dealers who are in bed with current dealers.
It really shouldn’t piss you off because it happens more often than you think it does. All around the world, not just the United States. It’s only become widely known outside of the watch industry because of social media. But this kind of stuff has gone on for decades and much more often than 99 percent of people outside of the watch world or on the fringe as just a buyer and seller…..
I feel that there’s so much spin and smoke & mirrors with these grey market dealers these days. I contacted a dealer for an “unworn” aquanaut. Contacted him and it wasn’t unworn. It had been polished to unworn condition. I mean, that’s just a straight lie!
oh dear oh dear
shocking but sadly too common
@@vinnyfranciswatches it’s disgraceful.
I've bought from grey dealers with no problems, always with due diligence. in my experience the vast majority of successful dealers (AD or secondary) are far too busy to spend too much time on social media. There were many who bigged up TPG when his star was on the rise. We all know who they are.🤣🤣🤣🤣Good video Vinny.
Good to hear, annoyingly SM is now a necessity, not really optional i feel for any business anymore, we even started tiktok last week God help me😅 Personally I cannot understand why a commercial manager was not hired to manage it like a business and not a free for all
Paul Thorpe….now he is back tracking
@@blondon1050 👍👍👍
@@vinnyfranciswatches I get that. I just hope people have learned from all this BS to have a modicum of scepticism towards the flexers. We can get back to watches and Two Tugs can make his pile selling paper cups.
I don’t know US laws but usually when somebody invest money in your business and there is prove that as a CEO you act in bad manners, means taking money from the company or using it in a bad way or whichever reprovable action yes there’s a debt to the investors, definatly. That’s something a judge decide.
14 Million Euro lost in Germany. International dealer was robbed in Berlin in December 2022. Spectacular coup. All watches on consignment. Difficulties wirh insurance. Company bankrupt in Germany. Seems the clients lost money and watches....
No offense, but anyone with half a brain would've known this from the start and not dealt with him.
I find it funny when people act as though this was something shocking or couldn't be seen coming (roman, etc.)... i watched the "omg we got fooled and it was good business and couldn't be seen coming" 😅
Personally im sticking with ADs. Not falling for social media show offs with no substance
i cant bring myself to buy from the grey market watch trader i almost bought last week but after doing some checks the company had no assets so now i will just wait for the ads to call they do just have to wait a little
Sellers need to have reasonable expectations as well. Its not just on the grey dealers. Your Rolex aint worth yesterday's price. If you bought one to flip or make money off of, good luck.
How can you virtually consign a watch? How can ensure it’s an authentic watch? Surely that leaves you open to further issues
We of course do all of the necessary physical authentication checks when the watch is initially sent to us for photography, as well as watch register reports and our own health check on the timegrapher
The watch market is dead 😂😂😂
unbelievable!
Wholeheartedly agree. Can we go back to reviewing watches and the passion of watch collecting.
Back on to Rolex next week!
Watch dealers are like second hand car dealers shady.the robber was even more slimey knew what he was doin lived the life to the full .on some one elses money
Buy low sell high. Find a crowd that has disposable income. Appear to be on the level with that revenue stream. Watches, art, real estate, automobiles, aircraft etc. It used to be considered less than honorable business, it should be. Buy low from a client who is liquidating and sell high to people who do not know that they are being fleeced. Nothing good about it.
With respect such a sweeping generalisation is completely incorrect and nonsense. There are many genuine professionals in this industry with a great wealth of expertise on these timepieces, greater than authorised dealers themselves. Much more work than just buying and selling goes into it. Servicing, health reports, history checks, ultrasonic cleaning, fast distribution, repairs, refurbs, and free expert advice all goes in from dealers who are professionals. Please do your research before attempting to sum up our trade with a generalisation.
Vinny, do you see this scandal causing watch prices to fall, or do you see it pushing them up?
I can imagine ways it could make either thing happen: it could scare sellers, drying up supply, and causing prices to rise, or it could put dealers out of business, making them liquidate all their stocks, which would depress prices.
Maybe it will have no effect at all. Keen for your take.
Interesting question. The high profile nature of this i think has cast a industry wide shadow on consignment, before this was a limited to the community now it’s more widespread. People will now think harder before they consign and those dealers who rely on it may see a fall in supply, but that just means those pieces will be bought instead by others so it strengthens the hand of cash rich dealers
@@vinnyfranciswatches That's my instinct too. Thanks for the reply, and the great videos.
Consignment is a way grey dealers operate without enough of their own capital. If a grey dealer is any good he would buy your watch and add it to his stock like any used car dealer. Best advice - NEVER consign your asset to a dealer so they can use your watch to create their capital and help with their cash flow and liquidity.
Vinny, you might be the most angry negative watch dealer on here, keep up the hard work.
angry and negative? would you prefer i be positive and happy about the situation? It’s the whole point of the video
dealer steals 5 million of clients moneys and the entire industry is mudded by it, my reporting isn’t going to be ‘ah well never mind let’s all kiss and make up and be positive’😂
Viny if I were in the market I would for sure buy a watch from you. Absolutely no doubt I would. I would say to you find me the absolutely best watch you can find at the best price. Then trust. The trust is the main part. That’s all we are looking for. It’s not that hard.
I will be looking for a SS Datejust soon hopefully I can find a guy like you here in Canada.
Very kind comment, thank you, I have relations in Toronto so it’s amazing to have you watch the channel!
@@vinnyfranciswatches thanks Vinny hopefully you will cut through all the garbage and come on top of the silliness that has happened over the past few years. Fly by night guys will come and go but the people like me know how to spot them a mile away. I have been on the sidelines of buying any watches for the past 3 years because of the silliness. It looks like things are getting better and the cream is rising. I am sure you will flourish in the future. These watches aren’t like buying a pretzel off a street vendor. The REAL buyers don’t work that way. Thank goodness it is getting back to some kind of normal.
Honest as always Vinny…….respect!
Cheers, have a nice weekend
Great stuff Vinny...Your consignment plan really does seem a sound approach. The noise have been hearing over the last couple of weeks because of TPG has been utterly tiresome eh?
Thank you, yes it’s an interesting solution and of course it’s all been a bit silly
So many of these watch dealers remind me of snake oil salesmen. Very oily.
Anphony the sort of guy to exaggrate his losses to gain more attention!
A guy and a watch doesn’t make a corporation or business regardless of what he says the watch cost. A guy, watch and website isn’t much better. Don’t give your money or expensive personal property to anyone to hold on to so they can sell it. They’ll take your shit and use it for their needs. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone to take your watch to sell it. A buyer isn’t going to peel off $50k and give it to the middleman to go get your watch and you damn sure shouldn’t give him your watch to walk off into the sunset with either. Just saying
Believe nothing that you hear, half of what you read & everything that you see......
That was absolutely epic. Thanks Vinny... great job, nothing to add. We've got the same mentality about the truths and lies of the internet. Or life in general.
Glad you enjoyed it! thanks for the kind feedback, have a good weekend
It’s ralevant… ralevant i say 😂😂😂
Lesson that should be learnt here Vinny is never consign your watch.
If dealers are good at what they do then they should be able to pay for stock.It’s the same in any business
This is a good point though, especially now, everyone wants more money for their watch so you can understand the temptation, take the £10k of company a or the £11 off company b in a few weeks, it’s very alluring and plays on greed.
Well said Vinny !
I personally don’t trust watch dealers outside of the AD. Too many fakes, Frankenstein watches and inexperienced dealers in the market. If they can take Adam Levine with a couple of fake watches, imagine what they’ll do to you and I! 😅😅😅
Always hated Maroon 5 with a passion to be honest!
@@vinnyfranciswatches LOL, I hear you but it still doesn’t make it right that he was scammed by a gray market dealer… sometimes it’s better to pay a little more to get piece of mind
I feel sorry his victims but it's a reality check not to trust a valuable asset in the hands of an ex-con who's spending money like a lottery winner on a bender!! Crazy really how people get sucked in by social media hype
Hard to trust anyone other than Vinny. After TPG and so many other broken trust stories in the watch world, especially heightened risk in a downward trending market.
Cheers Roger, these kind of things happen in all industries to be honest but when it’s such a high profile public figure it’s a lot more damaging
Cheers Roger, these kind of things happen in all industries to be honest but when it’s such a high profile public figure it’s a lot more damaging
A few days have past since this episode so how long did it take before Paul Thorpe contacted you trying to convince you consignment is 💯% safe in the U.K and to come on his channel saying you were wrong 😂😂
Never spoken with him to be honest, i’m small fry😂 he does his thing and I do my thing, it’s certainly not 100% safe
I think he probably is millions of debt, you cannot have a billionaire lifestyle selling second hand watches.
what part of the UK is this accent from?
Hi we’re from Manchester
"We want to associate with him because he is successful" - No! What is wrong with this generation? From the first look the man's image screamed "conman", and every video would pound it more and more into your head. No one in their right mind should do serious business with him. What happened to our standards?
😂😂 good ending
Haha thanks, i enjoyed writing that monologue part!
☠️Fures usque ad mortem☠️
Top drawer content again Vinny. If i sell my Rolexes to a dealer youll be the first one I'll be messaging. Cheers
Just the kind of sheep comments I used to see on TPG videos
Well i did encourage to even question what i say! disagree if you feel that’s correct, that’s great, we do need to be more independent thinkers!
@xarevalo Vinny is far from a TPG, show us English guys a little respect please
Too little too late Vinny. Accountancy is a good profession.
It’s a great profession I agree though even better to combine a passion with the rollercoaster that is business, thanks for watching
Thank you for taking the time to reply
I purchased a Rolex in April 2022 the watch is probably down in value by £8,500 but I love the watch, & at 69 years old, I wasn’t prepared to wait 7 years 🙏
Only "dying" is risk free!
We need to END risky consignment - once and for all.
4P this one is for you
The guy's voice doesn't match his face in any way 😂
Experience of mine: I entered a few watchstore in my workclothes , my comanycar parking in front of the shop. The coworker or the owner look at me like a leper and explane me that this watches, sold in their store, may be out of my financial possibilities and asked me to leave!! A few days later i came back in (one!) of my sportscars, dressed in suit, the money in the pocket ! They liked to sell me the world and more!
After a few seconds they recognized me from the days before! What a shame! A good advice to all these conzessionairs and dealers: never
judge a man for what you see, because a rich man never shows what he owns!!!!! Or in the other way: dont believe the show of the blenders and liars, inform before judge and you will be surprised that there is most of the time no substance behind the facade!!!! Sorry for my english, i am italian!!
Anthony is a marketing genius
anthony is a rub and tug genius also
You want to talk about it cause you want viewers.....admit it..... Antony is a good hot topic of the hour .....
Not really to be honest otherwise i’d have jumped on it 10 days ago like everyone else
❤❤❤
haha, excellent
Thanks!
Always go for Rolex CPO if its a Rolex. The price is a little above market but worth the piece of mind!!
A little above? 25%?
Rolex Daytona Stainless Steel Black Dial with Ceramic Bezel at Rolex Westfield, White City, London £30,000 😂 a bit more than 25% over list.
well theyre living on Mars if they think thats an even remotely achievable price, we have the same watch on our website for under 23k @@Madeinlondon67
@@vinnyfranciswatches I don’t think that the CPO market will work for them.
What do you honestly think my chances are of getting a GMT oyster Batman from an AD? I registered my interest at 3 different places in 2021 just before the hype started.
still very slim if you have no purchase history nor if you havent bought other rolex's from them@@Madeinlondon67
Lol I don’t think AF is coming back after few weeks, 7 months by now! Your reasoning and prediction sucks. I guess you try to defend him indirectly?
video was made 7 months ago when his troubles were all just rumours, way before we knew any detail…no defending going on here so i don’t know what you’re talking about
@@vinnyfranciswatches the writing was on the wall for more than 2 years that AF was a scammer, but you said that you wouldn't be surprised if he bounced back, and claimed that the rest of the people who condemned him were exaggerating! so it comes across as if you're defending him...
I dont even trust you and what you said in this video
Good you don’t have too! If we all were more
critical thinkers then this soap
opera would never have escalated to what it did this week
How about a look at lange&sohne. 🤔 for real watch enthusiasts 💪🏻😉
yummmm, I’ll own a Datograph one day, the finest and most beautiful movement ever made in my opinion