‘Timepiece Gentleman’ of Beverly Hills admits to taking nearly $6M

A Beverly Hills watch dealer known as the “Timepiece Gentleman” admitted to defrauded dozens of his customers out of nearly $5.7 million.

Anthony Farrer, 36, a former resident of downtown Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to one count each of wire and mail fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

Between November 2022 and November 2023, Farrer would take possession of watches by Rolex, Richard Mille and Patek Phillipe, as well as other luxury watchmakers, and display them at his eponymous Beverly Hills store and on the internet.

When those watches sold, Farrer was supposed to turn those funds over to the watches’ owners, minus a consignment fee, which prosecutors said is typically 5% of the sales price. If a watch didn’t sell, Farrer was to return the timepiece to its owner.

“However, instead of remitting watch sales proceeds – or the unsold watches themselves – back to the clients, Farrer sold the client watches and kept the proceeds for himself,” the DOJ said. “He also used client watches – without the client’s knowledge or permission – as collateral for loans that he took out from lenders.”

When asked about specific watches, Farrer would claim they hadn’t been sold yet.

Prosecutors said Farrer sometimes would take money from clients while searching for specific watches to purchase on their behalf, but he instead would use the money to “fund his lavish lifestyle such as buying or leasing luxury automobiles, apartments, and other luxury goods.”

When asked about the money, Farrer would send them a different watch “to tide the client over or lull them into a false sense of security regarding the status of the purchase,” prosecutors said.

“Similar to a Ponzi scheme, the other watch Farrer sent to the client often belonged to other clients who had themselves sent him that watch for a consignment sale,” the release said. “These clients were unaware Farrer was using their watches for that purpose, rather than attempting to sell the watches on behalf of the clients.”

In total, Farrer took $5.69 million in money and property belonging to more than 40 people.

He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for each fraud count. That sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2025.

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