Watchlords

This one should open a few worm cans, even here.

I'm not kidding. I wrote to WatchTime Magazine after the last issue because they did a gush piece on Teddy Baldassarre, the YouTube kid who morphed from a "watch reviewer" to a sort of AD watch seller on his own. I didn't complain about his watch knowledge or anything like that - but anyone who isn't offended by a person both selling watches and reviewing them, well, I don't even know what else to say.

You can't do that. It's a blatant conflict of interest. How can he deliver a straightforward review on, say, Oris, when he sells the brand? That cannot be done; reviews are what we used to call journalism, and if there's a profit motive involved, you're disqualified - case closed. There's no gray area here. He calls what he does "advertorials." I call bullshit.

So, I wrote a letter to complain, and, with only minor edits, they published it in the new issue that came out this week. It's obviously in the letters section. I have to give the publisher, Roger Ruegger, credit - he published something negative in a magazine that's usually all happy-happy. So props for that. He even wrote back to me explaining why they published the piece.

Ahh, standards - remember those? There are lines that shouldn't be crossed. Teddy Baldassarre reviewing watches while selling them is like running for mayor and being allowed to count the votes. It's like Elon Musk reviewing Teslas in Car And Driver. I can hear it coming: "Oh, TB, it's just about watches. Cool your jets."

It's never just about watches. YouTube is full of opportunists who read watch brand press releases, point a webcam at themselves, and you got "experts." Not in my neighborhood - besides, Archie Luxury couldn't afford the rent in my building.

Very cool. Would love to read your letter. What was Roger's explanation?

Roger is apparently pretty cool.
Good story, TB, well done!

Post it up, man - no letters in the o/l version.

That's awesome

3Flushes wrote: ↑

August 14th 2021, 4:21am

Post it up, man - no letters in the o/l version.

I'll see if I can screen cap it and put it in this thread.

Here's the letter in WT. I think it would be bad form (and a copyright thing) if I reprinted anything else from the mag here. I am still quite surprised something this negative reached the WT pages, so I'm pleased they at least saw my point.

Nice.

When Sony was reviewing their own movies they had to cough up over 300,000.00.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sony-pays- ... views/#app

Hawk wrote: ↑

August 14th 2021, 5:12pm

Nice.

When Sony was reviewing their own movies they had to cough up over 300,000.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sony-pays- ... views/#app

^^^^^ Very good comparison there.

I don't care if Teddy does YouTube videos praising the watches he sells - cripes, Tim Mosso of Watchbox has made a career of that. But unlike Teddy, Mosso is honest about it - at a symposium I attended, Mosso straight out said: "I'm not a journalist - I'm a salesman." Mosso knows the difference. I also think that what Teddy does disqualifies him from "reviewing" other brands as well. If he scoffs at a Formex and sells Oris, wouldn't a red flag suddenly go up in your mind, since both brands have similar price points?

But, like I noted earlier, standards. Nobody has them any more. People have sold out to such an extent that they look at you like you have three heads if you point out something that they're doing is unethical. But such are the times.

Right on point, T, well said. And good on Watch Time.

I used to like the guy, thought the vids, particularly the informational ones , his piece on beat rate for example, were well done, but hadn't recognized the conflict of interest in the reviews until you pointed it out in a thread on Teddy over at BDWF, AIR.

I recently saw Baldassarre in a YT video about affordable watches with billionaire, Kevin O'Leary - Mr. Wonderful - of Shark Tank fame, a noted watch collector of unaffordables. As Teddy showed him watch after watch, O'leary gushed over what remarkable watches they were, the heft, the dials, etc. and always the values -and all watches sold at the Teddy store. While the rundowns on the watches weren't reviews per sè, 'ol Teddy is no doubt an unabashed salesman.

3Flushes wrote: ↑

August 15th 2021, 2:21pm

Right on point, T, well said. And good on Watch Time.

I used to like the guy, thought the vids, particularly the informational ones , his piece on beat rate for example, were well done, but hadn't recognized the conflict of interest in the reviews until you pointed it out in a thread on Teddy over at BDWF, AIR.

I recently saw Baldassarre in a YT video about affordable watches with billionaire, Kevin O'Leary - Mr. Wonderful - of Shark Tank fame, a noted watch collector of unaffordables. As Teddy showed him watch after watch, O'leary gushed over what remarkable watches they were, the heft, the dials, etc. and always the values -and all watches sold at the Teddy store. While the rundowns on the watches weren't reviews per sè, 'ol Teddy is no doubt an unabashed salesman.

Well, yeah, that's just it - and I would bet dollars to donuts that young Teddy doesn't have the inner capacity to realize what he is doing is dead wrong. I bet he wouldn't even understand the concept of why what he's doing is wrong. And that's a sign of these very sorry times.

Solid letter. Thanks.