HOROLOGY HOUSE FAKE ROLEX 116500LN Serial 357Q00K9

[llxhansenxll]

Originally Posted by dmash

Just to clarify, you have a soft spot for someone who for months, refused to refund TENS OF THOUSANDS of your dollars, but you 'promise' you're not defending him.



Again, twilight zone.

Yes. Twighlight Zone.


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[Maverixk]

It’s all good happy to remove my post and experience.

Thanks guys for the assistance.

This is clearly not the avenue for me to to tell my story.


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[Recondope]

I give up on attempting to figure out what I am missing as to why some continue to sympathize with Chris and not the victims, some of who are still out multiple thousands of dollars with probably little chance of recovery.

[Maverixk]

Originally Posted by dmash

Just to clarify, you have a soft spot for someone who for months, refused to refund TENS OF THOUSANDS of your dollars, but you 'promise' you're not defending him.



Again, twilight zone.

As mentioned it’s easy to look at the bigger picture and make assumptions.

In the crux of the situation I didn’t know at the time I was being scammed.

That being said I’m in shock that this has happened to multiple people.


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[Maverixk]

Originally Posted by imgook

Can you ask your mate Chris to return every ones money please. You could pay for him if you want, don't think the victims will mind. Time for you to help him back out in return.

Sure send me your bank account details and passwords.
I’ll make sure everyone gets their money back by today unless you’re a little light on the wallet


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[cop414]

Play nice fellas.

[dmash]

Originally Posted by Maverixk

Sure send me your bank account details and passwords.
I’ll make sure everyone gets their money back by today unless you’re a little light on the wallet


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Honestly a pretty bad joke in the midst of all this (still) happening and people out of money. Makes me honestly question about you posting here.

Originally Posted by Maverixk

As mentioned it’s easy to look at the bigger picture and make assumptions.

In the crux of the situation I didn’t know at the time I was being scammed.

That being said I’m in shock that this has happened to multiple people.


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Sure

Originally Posted by cop414

Play nice fellas.

[Koolpep]

Originally Posted by DJRikki

That video was not good in the slightest and made him look extremely foolish.

"Here's what Ive got to say based on not reading the full facts or caring - but here's my video anyway!"

But he gave me a hard time in the comments anyway when I piped up about his commenters trying to steer him in the right direction.

He doesn’t seem to take criticism lightly. It was the same with his Ginault video in the comments. Anyhow, thankfully so much more great content producers out there....

[toomanymatts]

Originally Posted by dmb359

For those that think this affects buying from trusted sellers, I would very much disagree. To me, Chris was in no way a trusted seller. He has an online presence, and followers, but not a long history of good documented transactions from a reputable selling source, like a true trusted seller. If I'm buying from a seller on TRF, that has much feedback from respected members on good transactions, that is much different than Chris.

I would never have bought from someone wanting to take my money and then go source a watch, but I understand that is the route to go for some, looking for a specific watch. I would gladly buy all day from a trusted seller on these forums, who lists a watch in their possession, and a history of good transactions. I would have no issue wiring them a large sum of money. There are many of those people here, and hell, I'm sure they could go source any watch you need too.

Being semi online-famous, does not make you a trusted seller, just a good picture taker and good information provider.

Don't be scared about purchasing from the trusted sellers here, they are actually legit, and will take care of you.

His status as a trusted seller did not come from his Youtube presence. It came from him being the founder and most prominent moderator of Australia's largest (on Facebook anyhow) classified page for watch sales. I'm not even sure I can think of an option that comes close to it....sure, there are more watches on Gumtree (think Craigslist), but no scrutiny whatsoever as to what's listed there. Dedicated to watches - I can't think of a competitor.

The page is notoriously strict on listings, doesn't allow fakes, blocks anything that is even borderline suspect with sales and so forth. He was among the most prominent enforcers of those rules, and - as it turned out - its most flagrant violator of them.

This all predates his Youtube channel. So yeah, while it turned out to all be a big fraud, it's wrong to assume his customers blindly trusted some Youtuber - it's more analogous to 'who's policing the police?' when buying from a large and quite-trusted page.

While I don't swim in the 30k waters - my 9k Rolex is my most expensive piece - I personally would have blindly purchased from Chris - and that's what disturbs me most.

[037]

Originally Posted by importstunna

When is he going to come out and give his side of the story? That's what I am waiting for.

He was banned not long after this thread started.

The last thread he participated in shows photos he took of a 3135: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=703595

His last post is on page 2 of that thread thanking everyone for their kind words about his photos: https://www.rolexforums.com/showpost...9&postcount=50

Even though he can't post, it's difficult to believe he was unaware this watch was a fake given his history of taking macro shots of watches, dials and movements. Looking at watches in person and up close is how every dealer learns to spot fakes. And, he's made videos explicitly on the topic of spotting fakes.

His prior excuses don't add up. I wouldn't expect any new excuses to contain better mathematics.

[Maverixk]

Originally Posted by dmash

Honestly a pretty bad joke in the midst of all this (still) happening and people out of money. Makes me honestly question who you potentially are to begin.



Sure

No what if he’s so concerned about everyone he should definitely clear them out first and wait for funds to be returned to him.
Bad joke ?
But having an opinion Based on actual knowledge of the person is met with childish bullying.

Wow nice joke.

Whatever dude, you haven’t been scammed
You’re just shit posting for whatever reason.



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[Maverixk]

Originally Posted by dmash

Just to clarify, you have a soft spot for someone who for months, refused to refund TENS OF THOUSANDS of your dollars, but you 'promise' you're not defending him.



Again, twilight zone.

Why don’t you just hang around New York and Bangkok doing whatever it is you usually do.

You’re not even a part of this lol


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[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Old Farmer

I have spent the morning reading this whole thing, trying my best to understand some of it.
Now my head hurts.

I don’t know how I missed one of the longest threads in recent TRF history ... but I finally read the whole thing this evening. I need a Tylenol or something stronger

Unbelievable times we live in. I feel just awful for anyone who has been taken advantage of by this guy.

This Chris fellow needs help... and using the tragic wildfires and that news stock picture of a burning house the way he did ... that’s sociopathic behavior IMO.

[CorradoBrit]

Originally Posted by Maverixk

No what if he’s so concerned about everyone he should definitely clear them out first and wait for funds to be returned to him.
Bad joke ?
But having an opinion Based on actual knowledge of the person is met with childish bullying.

Wow nice joke.

Whatever dude, you haven’t been scammed
You’re just shit posting for whatever reason.

Curious why you registered almost 6 years ago and your inaugural posts are in thinly veiled support of an established scammer on this thread. Yet another Zombie account is resurrected.

[cpl]

Originally Posted by rhysao

I’ve been a member of AWBSS and AWF for around 6 months now, bought and sold multiple pieces through there with quick, trouble-free transactions, none of which were with Chris. Firstly, thanks to the mods here for letting the discussion go on.

Seeing the first post from OP came as a real surprise, having seen Chris’ presence on both FB pages and YT content, I saw he was one of biggest players in the Australian watch community and right up until that point, naively saw him as the most trustworthy person to potentially buy off, given how he had made himself a public figure within the community. After seeing OP’s original post, I went in with an open mind thinking there has to be another side to the story. After getting about a quarter of the way through the WhatsApp logs I was confident in stating Chris is just an utter piece of sh*t.

After keeping up to date with the info coming in, reading every post and each detail of his previous transactions, I feel like some are getting a little carried away on some of the details and want to reiterate a few points;

So far, as far as I’m aware, there is one fake piece that is confirmed and no evidence, yet, to suggest there is a second fake piece.

On top of that, there is the discussion of whether he knew it was fake or not - Chris’ response in the WhatsApp logs when the buyer questioned its authenticity was incredibly damning. If he didn’t know it was fake, I don’t believe he would have reacted like that, he would have immediately questioned the buyer and suggested the buyer had done a bait and switch, instead of just conceding and offering a refund. This suggests he knew exactly what he was doing and I believe there is a plausible explanation for him doing so - Chris knew the buyer was in Bahrain working for 6 months, so by shipping the fake piece to his family, he was buying himself potentially several months more time until the watch was taken to Bahrain by the buyers family. The way he conceded so quickly on it being fake and offered a refund suggests it was most likely another delaying tactic, not a genuine attempt to bait and switch the sale and profit off a fake piece. Of course, I could be wrong on that, but we will never know for sure if it did get him a few months extra, whether he would have refunded once the buyer realised it was fake or whether he would have turned on the buyer and suggest they were scamming him - hopefully more info will come to light that makes it clearer.

There have been multiple posts ‘to those still defending Chris….’ - I’ve read this entire thread and haven’t seen a single person defending him since the evidence has become overwhelming on about page 2.

There have been questions on motives, suggesting gambling debt etc., which have been taken by some as an excuse for his behaviour. Trying to understand the reasoning behind his actions is in no way condoning his behaviour or an excuse, it’s simple trying to understand Chris’ actions, because at this time we have no idea what drove him to this situation. If it is gambling addiction, that doesn’t make it any better than if it was done simply out of greed, and I haven’t seen anyone suggest otherwise.

Going after and implicating other social media personalities and mods has got a little out of hand and is incredibly unfair IMO. We can now look back with the benefit of hindsight and say how could anyone have ever stood up for him, but right at the start I think the mods had a duty of care to make sure the evidence was overwhelming prior to taking actions. I believe the decision to suspend comments on the FB post was justified until Chris had the chance to explain himself which he eventually did in an amusingly trivial way, and I repeat, what a piece of sh*t. B&J explained previously that Chris called him shortly after the original post outing him and tried to explain/cover his tracks - clearly, the piece of sh*t was trying to pull the wool over not only the communities eyes, but those who classed him as a mate as well. I don’t think throwing unsubstantiated claims at other YouTubers and mods is fair or helps in any way. This falls squarely on Chris' head, not anyone else.

I’d also like to finish by saying, what a piece of sh*t!

Fair and well reasoned summary. Thank you.

[imgook]

Great job Mods, keep up the good work. We appreciate it.

[dmash]

Originally Posted by 037

He was banned not long after this thread started.

The last thread he participated in shows photos he took of a 3135: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=703595

His last post is on page 2 of that thread thanking everyone for their kind words about his photos: https://www.rolexforums.com/showpost...9&postcount=50

Even though he can't post, it's difficult to believe he was unaware this watch was a fake given his history of taking macro shots of watches, dials and movements. Looking at watches in person and up close is how every dealer learns to spot fakes. And, he's made videos explicitly on the topic of spotting fakes.

His prior excuses don't add up. I wouldn't expect any new excuses to contain better mathematics.

Exactly. If it was a really good fake, perhaps there's a possibility. However, even your average Joe could have done a comparison test with that watch and seen *multiple* things didn't line up.

Originally Posted by CorradoBrit

Curious why you registered almost 6 years ago and your inaugural posts are in thinly veiled support of an established scammer on this thread. Yet another Zombie account is resurrected.

It's very odd and glad he's gone. It's quite curious how he turned hostile once I confronted him. This entire situation is getting weirder by the day.

Originally Posted by imgook

Great job Mods, keep up the good work. We appreciate it.

+1

[jinikari01]

Originally Posted by Maverixk

No what if he’s so concerned about everyone he should definitely clear them out first and wait for funds to be returned to him.
Bad joke ?
But having an opinion Based on actual knowledge of the person is met with childish bullying.

Wow nice joke.

Whatever dude, you haven’t been scammed
You’re just shit posting for whatever reason.



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And the plot thickens...
Who is this mystery defender of Justice?

I love it

[dmb359]

Originally Posted by toomanymatts

His status as a trusted seller did not come from his Youtube presence. It came from him being the founder and most prominent moderator of Australia's largest (on Facebook anyhow) classified page for watch sales. I'm not even sure I can think of an option that comes close to it....sure, there are more watches on Gumtree (think Craigslist), but no scrutiny whatsoever as to what's listed there. Dedicated to watches - I can't think of a competitor.

The page is notoriously strict on listings, doesn't allow fakes, blocks anything that is even borderline suspect with sales and so forth. He was among the most prominent enforcers of those rules, and - as it turned out - its most flagrant violator of them.

This all predates his Youtube channel. So yeah, while it turned out to all be a big fraud, it's wrong to assume his customers blindly trusted some Youtuber - it's more analogous to 'who's policing the police?' when buying from a large and quite-trusted page.

While I don't swim in the 30k waters - my 9k Rolex is my most expensive piece - I personally would have blindly purchased from Chris - and that's what disturbs me most.

Was there lots of people that would vouch for him and said they had completed good deals with him? That's what defines a "trusted seller" to me. No judgment here though, as I've sent money to people via Facebook groups that I assumed would be legit (luckily they were)

Either way, my comment was more about people who thought the trusted sellers on TRF would take a hit, and I disagree, as they have hundreds of people who have commented and posted about positive transactions. That's the type of people I seek out when looking to purchase outside an AD.


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[cerendigit]

Here is an article that was recently taken down:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190811...e-watch-h1e9d4

Excepts:

Chris Essery, founder and brain behind watch forum Horology House says buyers best educate themselves if they're to get a sale
....
1. Do your homework
"There is no substitute for hard research," says (Chris) Essery, who advises prospective buyers to arm themselves with information on the model or brand they're considering.
....
3. Become a detective
Mitigate some of the risk by buying from reputable stores and sellers.

Oh the irony...

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by cop414

Welcome to the club.

Lol, its definitely been keeping you busy by the looks of it.
Just out of interest, would you rate this thread as a very busy and popular one in TRF standards?
Ive never seen more new members join a forum for a thread.
People seem to be talking about this thread all over the internet and linking people to it, must be one of the most talked about and interesting threads in horology forum history.
Thanks again for letting it play out, nice work TRF.

[toomanymatts]

Originally Posted by dmb359

Was there lots of people that would vouch for him and said they had completed good deals with him? That's what defines a "trusted seller" to me. No judgment here though, as I've sent money to people via Facebook groups that I assumed would be legit (luckily they were)

Either way, my comment was more about people who thought the trusted sellers on TRF would take a hit, and I disagree, as they have hundreds of people who have commented and posted about positive transactions. That's the type of people I seek out when looking to purchase outside an AD.


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Honestly, I don't know. I think it's just as simple as 'he runs a clean board so I will blindly trust him to be a clean seller'.

Like I said, I'd have fallen for it.....that may well make me a fool, I'll take that...but learning that I too am a fool explains a LOT of the stunned reaction from the Australian watchfam in the early pages of this thread. We were all fooled, and none of us wudda thunk it.

[Jooboo]

Originally Posted by Maverixk

Why don’t you just hang around New York and Bangkok doing whatever it is you usually do.

You’re not even a part of this lol


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How are you apart of this? Chris has only helped you....

[di see]

Originally Posted by toomanymatts

His status as a trusted seller did not come from his Youtube presence. It came from him being the founder and most prominent moderator of Australia's largest (on Facebook anyhow) classified page for watch sales. I'm not even sure I can think of an option that comes close to it....sure, there are more watches on Gumtree (think Craigslist), but no scrutiny whatsoever as to what's listed there. Dedicated to watches - I can't think of a competitor.

The page is notoriously strict on listings, doesn't allow fakes, blocks anything that is even borderline suspect with sales and so forth. He was among the most prominent enforcers of those rules, and - as it turned out - its most flagrant violator of them.

This all predates his Youtube channel. So yeah, while it turned out to all be a big fraud, it's wrong to assume his customers blindly trusted some Youtuber - it's more analogous to 'who's policing the police?' when buying from a large and quite-trusted page.

While I don't swim in the 30k waters - my 9k Rolex is my most expensive piece - I personally would have blindly purchased from Chris - and that's what disturbs me most.

Very well said!

[dmash]

Originally Posted by Frogman

Lol, its definitely been keeping you busy by the looks of it.
Just out of interest, would you rate this thread as a very busy and popular one in TRF standards?
Ive never seen more new members join a forum for a thread.
People seem to be talking about this thread all over the internet and linking people to it, must be one of the most talked about and interesting threads in horology forum history.
Thanks again for letting it play out, nice work TRF.

What's even nuttier is how fast it grew. We're averaging more than 80,000 views per day at this point.

[CorradoBrit]

Originally Posted by dmash

What's even nuttier is how fast it grew. We're averaging more than 80,000 views per day at this point.

I predict 500K by the weekend. That's gotta be some sort of record for TRF.

[ducksonetime]

Long time lurker, compelled to finally register in the midst of the drama.

Firstly need to thank the moderators for keeping this thread open. You're all doing a great job balancing the exchange of opinions and removing the toxic posts/accounts.

Secondly, here's hoping all victims are able to are able to get their money back in full and I hope HH comes to some form of justice.

Pretty upsetting hearing about this though. I have been a member of AWBSS for a number of years now and I have both bought and sold over 10 pieces through the group. By large, the members of this group are both trusting and worthy of your trust. I even purchased a Grand Seiko through the group paying less than half down and paying the rest over the next 4 months and the buyer sent the watch immediately after receiving the first payment!

We all need to protect ourselves but I really hope the mutual trust that is characteristic of, and somewhat unique to, this community isn't lost.

Cheers all!

[Galaga167]

“What we know so far about the alleged fake Rolex scandal engulfing popular YouTuber @horologyhouse” via @watchville https://api.watchville.co/v2/posts/48101/click

[037]

Originally Posted by Galaga167

“What we know so far about the alleged fake Rolex scandal engulfing popular YouTuber @horologyhouse” via @watchville https://api.watchville.co/v2/posts/48101/click

Ironic word choice they made...

[dmash]

Originally Posted by Galaga167

“What we know so far about the alleged fake Rolex scandal engulfing popular YouTuber @horologyhouse” via @watchville https://api.watchville.co/v2/posts/48101/click

This is going to be on the news soon.