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Luxury watch dealer Anthony Farrer pleaded guilty late last year to defrauding clients in a scheme with Ponzi-type elements.
Anthony Farrer, 36, the luxury watch dealer who made a name for himself as “The Timepiece Gentleman,” pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in late 2024. Last week, a federal judge sentenced him to 70 months in prison.
Los Angeles—A 36-year-old luxury watch dealer who gained notoriety and the trust of timepiece enthusiasts via social media will spend the next nearly six years behind bars.
Anthony Farrer, known as “The Timepiece Gentleman,” was sentenced on Friday to 70 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles announced.
Farrer, who was arrested in late 2023, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud in October 2024.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, “The Timepiece Gentleman” started his watch business in Texas in 2017, collecting watches from prospective sellers and finding buyers for them while earning a 5 percent commission on the sale.
In early 2022, Farrer moved to Los Angeles, opened a store that sold and consigned watches, and registered a business called “The Timepiece Gentleman” in the state of California.
This was both the name of Farrer’s store and the moniker he used on social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
According to the affidavit, around November of that year, he began defrauding customers in a scheme that had Ponzi-style elements, using the money he made to fund what the U.S. Attorney’s Office described as a “lavish” lifestyle that included a red Lamborghini and two Ducati motorcycles.
The affidavit alleges he would sell the watches sent to him on consignment and then keep the proceeds for himself.
He also convinced people to wire him money for watches they wanted to buy and then, according to the affidavit, either never sent them the watch they wanted or sent them a completely different watch than the one they intended to purchase.
In one instance, he sent a Rolex watch to one individual in lieu of the money owed to them. That watch actually belonged to another individual who, “did not authorize Farrer to use the watch as payment for Farrer’s debts to other victims,” court papers state.
He also used client watches as collateral for loans that he took out from lenders without the client’s knowledge or permission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Eventually, The Timepiece Gentleman’s victims began contacting law enforcement and in August 2023, officers paid a visit to The Timepiece Gentleman store in Beverly Hills only to find it closed.
Farrer’s social media posts made around this time showed him to be traveling around the country, spending time in South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Colorado, the affidavit notes.
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Anthony Farrer, known as “The Timepiece Gentleman,” was sentenced on Friday to 70 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles announced.
Farrer, who was arrested in late 2023, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud in October 2024.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, “The Timepiece Gentleman” started his watch business in Texas in 2017, collecting watches from prospective sellers and finding buyers for them while earning a 5 percent commission on the sale.
In early 2022, Farrer moved to Los Angeles, opened a store that sold and consigned watches, and registered a business called “The Timepiece Gentleman” in the state of California.
This was both the name of Farrer’s store and the moniker he used on social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
According to the affidavit, around November of that year, he began defrauding customers in a scheme that had Ponzi-style elements, using the money he made to fund what the U.S. Attorney’s Office described as a “lavish” lifestyle that included a red Lamborghini and two Ducati motorcycles.
The affidavit alleges he would sell the watches sent to him on consignment and then keep the proceeds for himself.
He also convinced people to wire him money for watches they wanted to buy and then, according to the affidavit, either never sent them the watch they wanted or sent them a completely different watch than the one they intended to purchase.
In one instance, he sent a Rolex watch to one individual in lieu of the money owed to them. That watch actually belonged to another individual who, “did not authorize Farrer to use the watch as payment for Farrer’s debts to other victims,” court papers state.
He also used client watches as collateral for loans that he took out from lenders without the client’s knowledge or permission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Eventually, The Timepiece Gentleman’s victims began contacting law enforcement and in August 2023, officers paid a visit to The Timepiece Gentleman store in Beverly Hills only to find it closed.
Farrer’s social media posts made around this time showed him to be traveling around the country, spending time in South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Colorado, the affidavit notes.
On Aug. 4, he began posting a series of YouTube videos he titled “Road to Redemption,” in which he admitted to lying and defrauding people to fund what he described as his “look-at-me lifestyle,” and said he was $5 million in “debt.”
In his final YouTube video, posted Aug. 9, Farrer discussed “possibly” getting out of the luxury watch industry.
He also talked about his desire to pay back his victims and complained about the “blowback” received by anyone who tried to help him by giving him a job or an opportunity to make money.
Because of all the negative attention, Farrer said he would be whittling his social media presence down to one account, @anthony on Instagram.
The last post to that account, a picture of Farrer working out, was made on Nov. 4, 2023.
Three days later, on Nov. 7, authorities arrested him at a storage facility in Venice, California. He has been in federal custody ever since.
In its release announcing Farrer’s sentencing, the U.S. Attorney Office for the Central District of California said The Timepiece Gentleman defrauded more than 40 individuals out of a total of at least $5.7 million.
It said he will be subject to a restitution order for payment owed to victims in amounts to be determined later.
“The so-called ‘Timepiece Gentleman’ was actually a con-man whose time living lavishly ran out when the high-end watch owners he victimized brought his crimes to the attention of law enforcement,” said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field.
“This successful prosecution is the result of a joint collaboration among local and federal partners working together in order to bring Mr. Farrer to justice.”
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