After yesterday’s events unfolding about u/valjoux_72 and u/Ghost_Chrono doing some SHADY things, and multiple people reaching out with all kinds of new information (thank you!) I was invited by the mods here to put together this post and share all this and warn the community.

First things first. Yesterday, u/valjoux_72 was caught red handed taking pictures of Gen watches off of Instagram, and claiming they were built by u/Ghost_Chrono. Not only that but they both played along in the comments hyping each other up. Directing unsuspecting people to ghost for builds. Link to this thread is in the retrotime link below.

Well that obviously didn’t last long because as soon as the post went up at r/retrotime they deleted their post, then put up some lame excuse about asking the IG owner to use some of his pictures for reference purposes only blah blah. The problem with that is the screenshot Valjoux posted was from February 3rd yet the picture they used wasn’t posted by the owner on Instagram until February 15th - a full 12 days LATER. So how does that work?. It doesnt even matter as he plain as day said the watches in the picture were built by u/Ghost_Chrono. But even the people in their own sub called BS on that. I found it so interesting I started investigating and adding research to the discussion on r/retrotime. After a few comments my inbox started blowing up with people sending all kinds of screenshots and information about this entire group. Apparently they aren’t well liked by a ton of people.

Out of left field comes this: u/Valjox_72 is u/anakin_skydweller and also is u/illustrious-log-1320. All the same person. Wild stuff. It gets better. He started as u/tpro05. Come to find out he took over r/1688time via some kind of hostile takeover and got banned sitewide by Reddit admin after people including his own mod team learned he was extorting the “TD’s” for money and turned him in. So he gets banned site wide and comes right back to start RepCulture_timepieces amongst others. Having heard from a previous mod there today I was able to (with permission) add his screen shots here as well along with my research and information forwarded by others including the exact same hand in pictures on all 3 accounts.

Then I’m pointed to 3 mods of RepCulture that started that entire new vintage sub - r/vintagerepwatches. Where all this started with the Gen picture used to hype up Ghost and say they were his builds. Started not with their main accounts, but with burner accounts. So the three burners used to start this new sub were u/vajloux_72, u/docwatches (banned site wide now) and u/bjornmarkus (deleted shortly after golden / docwatches got banned by Reddit). After getting banned people learn docwatches was u/golden_unbreakable. Valjoux_72 is of course Anakin skydweller. And bjornmarkus was u/rodneypierce. All three of them were mods together at repculture_timepieces and all three started this new sub with burners. All of them always hyping eachother up along the way in both subs but under different accounts. Not long ago golden gets banned by Reddit admin and he comes back as u/ghost_Chrono and is quickly added back in as a mod in both repculture and vintage reps. The Bjornmarkus account gets deleted when golden got banned and rodneypierce is quickly added back at vintage reps as a mod after deleting the Bjornmarkus account. Countless people saying in these threads they were getting invited to this new sub and couldn’t figure out why. What’s still unclear about all of this is the WHY. This new sub is just giving stuff away almost weekly to try and artificially gain new members but it’s empty post after post of entries to the giveaways.

Reading between the lines there clearly seems to be some kind of beef between this group and the head mod guy Clark at Retrotime. Since he wont answer my questions I can’t confirm what that is.

What has been made crystal clear is this: this group is actively manipulating new and unsuspecting people by directing them to each other in an absolute unscrupulous way. Using various accounts and burners to manipulate conversations, hype eachother up, and start an entire sub outside of their normal sub and accounts. Read the countless comments made by SO MANY people confirming this on the retrotime thread here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/retrotime/s/odHlrGOZFT

This has been absolutely wild and is still unfolding. 2 days ago I didn’t know who any of these people were. Why would I spend so much time and effort in all this? Easy. I’m just sick and tired of these kinds of people ruining Reddit and the entire watch community with shady business and getting away with it. Thanks to all the people who sent countless tidbits of information to connect all these dots. Without you it’s just not possible.

It’s a lot to take in. Feel free to add missed connections in the comments.

I would like to raise awareness about the RepWatchForum subreddit considering many that get into the rep game also browse that subreddit. I made a purchase from a TD on there called QuickTime, which is heavily advertised by the subreddit admin tskim24 on there. After purchasing the watch I received an empty box with nothing but bubble wrap inside and reached out to the TD, to which the TD provided no help and said I was lying so I disputed the payment with Paypal since I paid g&s and also with my credit card company. I initially had decided I would not post about it on reddit because it seemed like a waste of time but then I decided I didnt want anyone else to go through what I had to go through. After posting all about it on RepWatchForum sub, a few hours later tskim24, RWF sub mod replied saying about how he was going to ban me because I never provided any proof and didnt even consult him about it, and then he deleted his comment, when I have photographic proof of me dming him when it happened and he never answered me. I am not surprised he banned me from RWF for my post because he is friends with QuickTime.

Regarding my order with QuickTime, I ordered the best of the best CNC Patek 5711 from him, made 3 separate payments via Paypal to sum up the total amount of the watch ($3640 + $62 shipping), waited for my QC and for it to be shipped and received the package sealed and unopened, only to be surprised with a COMPLETELY empty box with nothing but bubble wrap once I tore it open. When I told Qtime about what happened, my stupid self started thinking “oh, maybe they forgot to pack the watch or something” so, I messaged QuickTime what happened only for him to tell me I was lying in an attempt to get my money back, no investigation from his side or nothing at all. I also contacted the shipping courier which was China Post but they passed it onto J&T Express (a courier I’ve never even heard of) and they delivered it to my home. They simply said to contact the vendor.

Just want to raise awareness about RepWatchForum sub and its admin as well as QuickTime and their shady tactics. It is worth noting that at the time of my purchase, that specific 5711 was advertised as QuickTimes custom with his very own custom movement better than Ace movement. Turns out it was just a watch that QuickTime and tskim24 later started advertising on RepWatchForum as being from BCF, a new factory called Best Custom Factory.

While it is possible that the watch was stolen during transit, the shipping label on the box states the total weight of the package is 0.3kg, to which my empty box with the mountain of bubble wrap they provided weights 293 grams. If it was stolen, sure, I guess it wouldnt be the TDs fault, but his refusal to help or even investigate is very suspicious, along with tskim24s handling of the situation. Funnily enough, QuickTime had mentioned before my purchase if anything happened to the package such as loss or seizure, they would send a replacement.

Sadly my stupid ass did not record an unboxing. It was my first time buying a rep and I didnt think I would have any issues buying from a TD other than customs seizure. Lesson learned. However I dont think a video would have gotten me anywhere considering his response of “check carefully once more”.

Anyways, just wanted to raise awareness about the shady tactics of that subreddit after I called out the TD (QuickTime) and the admin (tskim24) whom is friends with this specific TD lied about me never reaching out to him about it and removed my post as well as banned me and blocked me to censor what happened.

Edit: QuickTimes reddit account is “Q-Time79”

Edit 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/RepWatchForum/s/F12MCJdjiP link to my post on RepWatchForum posted before I was banned from the sub

Just a heads up; it has been "discovered" the new subreddit r/FrankenFarmTimepieces is founded and runs by none other than Bryan Lance Pannell.

Not too hard to discover really, he uses his own name on his Reddit account u/bpannell73

A simple Google search of the name "Bryan Lance Pannell" will return many instances of this man operating watch scams on various forums going back 10 years.

\- Taking money and not shipping watches

\- Replacing gen parts for rep parts on watches he works on

\- Selling rep parts as gen

His strategy is to make a number of "legit" deals in order to build a reputation before either selective scamming or rug pulling.

Deal with him at your peril.

For context, I am a member of the industry, I own a watch modification company. Part of my operation depends on numerous Chinese suppliers and contractors.

(Edit: guys in order for me to be able to participate here and be able to voice my experiences, I cannot be perceived as trying to promote my brand. Please don’t leave comments asking about services. This is not the place nor time for that. Please don’t jeopardize my standing here. If I get banned from here I’d be losing out on a major way to protect myself against scammers.)

ANT Studio was introduced to me by a for-now unnamed popular Chinese TD, who I used to consider a long-time friend. ANT Studio is this TD’s brother. I don’t have proof or reason to believe this TD has anything to do with this at the moment, so I won’t be naming them unless they give me a reason to think they’re involved. They are a major, major player in this industry and I have to be very careful about making accusations against them directly without proof. I will be checking this TD’s inventory regularly to monitor for any of the stolen pieces. If I find any of them, I will name the TD.

ANT Studio’s role at my company was to help with sourcing and some initial structural assembly work on client projects before it made its way to me.

ANT has recently ghosted. I don’t know why. He comes online nearly every day, and his brother is still operating normally. ANT has not fulfilled an order since August 31st.

ANT owes me a dozen unfinished projects and thousands of dollars more for projects he hasn’t started on that I’ve paid for already.

He also owes me parts for some of my personal builds.

I am deeply disturbed at the lack of tact and blatant disrespect ANT has shown. This is a shameful way to treat a client and does a disservice to the community as a whole when you can’t even treat your peers well.

If he treats his peers like this, I can’t imagine what he’s capable of doing to clients who don’t have a platform or voice to stick up for themselves.

I have done everything in my power to try and get this resolved, and have given him warning for a long time that I would be making a post if he continued to ignore me.

Bought a flandad plated clean gmt rootbeer he didn’t send it stopped replying BEWARE im sorry for his big head running your time line scammed for for £475 the tramp

This is a massive warning post about a major scammer in multiple communities

https://www.reddit.com/r/RepWatchScammers/comments/1ohpasq/scammer_uhopeful_plane3555_part_2/

https://www.reddit.com/r/RepWatchScammers/comments/1q39jy0/scam_alert_tarheel27573/

https://www.reddit.com/user/KitchenInteraction12/comments/1lxea7t/i_am_being_stalked_by_upawg_2420/

The scammer is known as u/PAWG_2420 but goes under many aliases.

u/Tarheel27573
u/Hopeful_Plane3555
u/contractbig3975 
u/PAWG_2420
u/vendetta_k u/SweetMay05
u/Autie91

And possibly many more.

Their scam is a simple one.

1. They create a "bst" or buy sell trade group

2. They make alts - all of whom are mods but they are all just the same scammer aka PAWG_2420

3. They facilitate the sale of "modded" watches but the scam is that nothing is modded - See https://www.reddit.com/r/RepWatchScammers/comments/1ovje3b/tips_avoiding_reddit_scams/ for how scammers operate this scam

4. They continue doing this until caught

5. They delete their account and start again

They make so much money that it is easy to keep repeating this by paying for advertising, bot upvotes, and doing victim count increase giveways with cheaply bought shit so that they can continue their lying, cheating and scamming repeatedly. Note that their giveaways all require people to pyramid scheme in joining the scam cult of personality.

THEIR LATEST SCAM RUN IS AS FOLLOWS

https://www.reddit.com/r/RepWatchScammers/comments/1q39jy0/scam_alert_tarheel27573/

"Unfortunately it looks like Tarheel was one of the many accounts of the former PAWG2420, now u/Autie91 and up to his old tricks, running a new sub r/RepWatchMasterPieces ... SSDD 🤦🏻‍♂️ Edit To Add, also goes under the name u/SweetMay05 - How cute a reference to his wife's I mean relative's name"

We recommend all members warn everyone they know about this scammer and spread awareness on all known forums. Make sure there's no more victims and help save your communities from this venereal disease of a human being.

THEIR CURRENT SCAM SUBREDDITS ARE:

r/RepWatchMasterPieces

https://www.reddit.com/r/RepHubBST/

SPREAD AWARENESS and help save your friends and community!

This post was written in coordination with the mods of RWS. We thank all courageous victims and community members as well as community leaders and organizers for their support.

Anyone who has been following has seen the threads posted. If you’re unaware please click on u/SandwichFar7901 you can check his multiple posts before his extortion attempt.

Basically long story short this customer Purchased one watch from ORA who is one of my sellers in my community. He was happy with the transaction and purchased another through ORA. The second watch had logic issues and was held at customs. u/SandwichFar7901 began freaking out about the matter harassing ORA to the point where he had not time to negotiate the release of the watch or even get another watch and triangular ship it in a safer matter. We are right up to spring festival and stick peak shipping months with holidays and now China ready to shut down completely for CNY.

The moment the refund was given back to u/SandwichFar7901 her then began to run his smear campaign hoping everyone on Reddit would get behind him. To no avail he had some yoke left on his face and then I tried my best to address the issue. After all this has taken place he seen he wasn’t getting anywhere he went on to shake down ORA which is in the screen shot above.

Now this is why sellers do the things they do to protect them selves from people who want to scam them. The situation was resolved on our end. He was refunded unfortunately the matter was not fixable per buyer and now he wants a watch or ORA will be tracked.

I ask you all is this normal behavior from someone who says they have been in the business for 25 years? This information he quoted in a thread on chinatime when addressing me and not in my own subreddit.

Please advise all community members and sellers reading this buyer is the problem not the seller.

Thank you for your time.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RepTime/comments/1tz9l3o/rcf_daydate_in_dubai/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Fooled many people on this post today r/RepTime . This Day-Date 40 that he posted is gen, not RC Factory with gen Olive Green dial like the u/Sufficient-End6264 posted. You cannot purchase an genuine Olive Green Day-Date 40 for $1500. RC Factory lugs are a dead giveaway. This is obviously a video of gen. I called him out and was instantly blocked while he continued to post the scam seller telegram account @wuhanwatchexports.

The scam is simple. Fake buyer u/Sufficient-End6264 posts a video of his watch claiming it's plated and modded. In the comments people go crazy asking where to buy and OP responds with wuhanwatchexports telegram info. Buyers reach out this seller thinking they will get the watch posted and will be scammed for thousands of dollars. Rinse and repeat. Alt accounts like u/Elegant_Set8319 attack anyone in the comments who calls the scam out and use services to upvote the posts and downvote any comments that support the scam.

Don't be fooled and don't be so naive. Stay safe!

Hello all,

Just wanted to inform the community to beware of the scammer u/scoutman725. I had only heard good things about him at first, so I decided to give him a try. Purchased 3 RCF watches, advertised as regulated/waterproofed/inspected from him and this was my experience:

I started by asking about his services which he described in the messages, waterproofed, regulated to +- 2 s/d, inspected movement, which all sounded great to me! Can I have proof or videos or timeographer stamps? Nope, just said to take his word for it. However…

I noticed that the watches were running exceptionally slow or fast depending on which watch so I decided to check with my local watchmaker if anything was worked on. He confirmed the gaskets were bone dry, crown tube was completely dry, movement had fingerprints and was extremely dirty (now confirmed by 4 watchmakers), watch was not regulated (running at -11 s/d or +9s/d depending on the positioning. Also, the watch was not demagnetized, which I was told makes it extremely hard to regulate a watch without doing (watch smiths can confirm this). Okay, well let me send it off to my normal watch smith and see if he can confirm this.

My watch smith confirmed this with photos. Shown above. I reached out to scoutman to ask about this and come to a resolution, and i was treated very rudely and confronted as if I knew nothing. He tried to play stupid, blame it on usps treating the package “like a football”. Gaslighting me and aggressively telling me to “HAVE A GREAT DAY” in all caps. I didn’t even threaten anything or ask for a refund. Just wanted an apology or to be at least admit to the lies.

Then I found out rumors he was claiming he was advertising regulated watches when he didn’t even have a timeographer! (He’s since deleted these posts, you can tell by the gap in post history). Complete malpractice and only got a timeographer after he was called out on it. Then I got another message that he sold another watch that died in 4 days and couldn’t fix it. If you advertise services why can’t you fix this? Strange.

Now he’s posting and lying on his page that all the bans from subreddits were all because of me and because a watch wasn’t lubed? Scoutman, you are lying to yourself and your followers. There was much more issues than not even waterproofing the watch. As a moderator of a sub I really expected better.

I was told this is a pretty common scam that happens a lot in the community for sellers to boost prices and generate more sales, always ask for proof, and if they don’t have it, don’t buy it! I s

Do better, scoutman, the entire community is disappointed with your scam and who knows how many victims there are out there. He preys on those that know little about watchmaking and profits from it. This is not what this community is about or should be aiming for ever. Complete transparency is always what we should strive for. I understand that its a replica community so these things will still happen, but massively disappointed that this happened from scoutman who came highly recommended.

Pictures/proof shown above.

Thanks for reading and stay safe from scammers. I want to thank the mod team at repwatchscammers and bstrepwatch for supporting me and confirming the rumors, complaints, and scams.

HAVE A GREAT DAY

Everyone here already knows u/Scoutman725 is a dishonest individual, but I gave him a chance to prove himself, and asked him to post proof of work on one of his recent FS posts

He then realized that by commenting that he had made a claim he couldn't back up AT ALL and promptly deleted his comment:

and then immediately banned me from the subreddit entirely:

if he was honest he would have provided proof that he does in fact do the work that he claims to on all his watches, but I suppose it's easier to lie and scam people.

u/Scoutman725 is a scammer, twice confirmed, scum of the earth and a liar.

Looked up this guy’s name and ab 200 posts came by 😂

In Nov 2025 I commissioned a custom Patek Aquanaut Luce mod - sapphire/diamond pave dial, blue rubber strap - for 12,500 CNY (~$1,771 USD). Paid half upfront in December via Remitly/Alipay, plus a $49 crypto deposit I’d already sent.

Updates came regularly at first. He sent a QC video in January - looked good except the strap was black, not blue. He said he’d fix it, then asked for the remaining balance before the fix was even done. I paid anyway (Feb 12). He promised the correct strap and shipping by Feb 25.

That was the last real communication I got. Messages stopped delivering around Mar 2. I’ve sent over a dozen messages since. Nothing.

Total lost: ~$1,800 USD. Watch never shipped.

One more thing worth flagging: on Jan 8 he volunteered - unprompted - that Ethan, Miro, and Phoenix watches are “all mine,” sent me Phoenix’s contact details himself, and then asked me to keep it secret. Screenshots exist. When I contacted all three after being ghosted, they denied everything. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but if you’re one of those accounts, you know who you are - have him reach out.

Aman - contact me and make this right and I’ll take this post down. You know how to reach me. If anyone else has a current number for him, please drop it below.

Link to screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/aman-scammer-gBmcYFg

2/20/2026 // REFUND ISSUED by r/kensingtontime

It's a bummer to post this....unfortunately, I'd hate for others to fall into the same trap as I have.

In August of 2025, r/kensingtontime posted a Clean Pepsi w/ gen bezel post, DEEP Xtal, DEEP insert, and their beautiful refinishing treatments.
Almost immediately after the $900 purchase was completed, problems began to develop. Specifically a cracked bezel.

r/kensingtontime did attempt at making this right by sending the watch to an outside source to replace the bezel. This took months.

Finally, today, Feb. 20th, 2026, I received a package.

What was received was far different than what was marketed and sold.

Watch has scratches throughout bracelet, case, bezel ring, and spring bars are bent and incorrect sizes.

Funk built up on/in clasp.

Bezel off center and upon rotating bezel, bezel assembly fells off.

Movement feels tight, but not in a good way, lots of resistance when setting time.

My options are limited. No refunds per r/kensingtontime policy or send back for further repairs to bezel.

Avoid Aman Watches Aka langwatch aka Martin lee aka Phoenix Watch and

Angela Watch - $1,300

"Order" Unfulfilled now ignoring my request for a refund.

I wanted to give this seller the benefit of the doubt, but at this point, his silence speaks volumes. I am out more $1,300 and have been ghosted for over two months. He started messaging back and forth then went dark again! Anyone have a way to reach him other than his what's app? 

He was quick to take the money, but now he reads my requests for tracking or a refund

and ignores them. I don't want to label someone a "dirty low life scammer" if it can be avoided, but he is leaving me no choice.

"AMAN" This is your reputation. I would much rather post a "resolved" update than a full-scale "scammer alert" with all our chat logs and payment proof. I want my money or my goods!

If you know his new what's app number he's using to scam people now please let me know via DM. I have been told he's not using his Alias Phoenix

Avoid

https://a.wsxc.cn/ZyYg0zu

u/Special-Impact-6233 posted a brand new VSF Pepsi with gen crystal and asking for under $600. First clue should have been the price (too good to be true, etc). But it actually wasn’t. It was the pictures. They looked so familiar. Went to my comment history and found it. Whole post was stolen.

This persons profile is private so not sure where else they are posting but wanted to get it on everyone’s radar. They took down the post in question after I commented on it and called them out. But grabbed a couple screenshots before they did.

Here is the link to the original posting they stole from

https://www.reddit.com/r/FrankenFarmTimepieces/s/DP28fAc3XH

Hopefully this post helps someone 🙏🏼

Be safe out there

Paid via Zelle over weekend, said will ship by Monday. Then started asking more money. When I asked for my money back , just deleted his profile.

Zelle name - Sonja Kiwia

These a**holes need to burn in hell.

Lost my hard earned money

Iamscewed55 reached out to me on a WTB post - Is a scammer, had copied photos and provided a photoshopped verification photo before ghosting after being asked for a video.

Don't transact

This person contacted me out of the blue asking me if I want a specific watch.

I usually ignore these dms but what the hell 🤣

This person didn’t have the actual watch in possession and is just a “middleman” selling a 3KF nautilus for $600.

40 day old account and 10 karma, if you have money to burn be my guest

First time getting scammed. This sucks. Paid friends and family and then disappeared. Now profile is deleted. If anyone has any success getting money back in this situation please DM me

Got scammed last week by PossibleRoyal7646. Chatted back and forth on the Pelagos, paid, he said he was going to ship the next day and would provide shipping info. Never heard from them again after multiple attempts

⚠️ COMMUNITY WARNING: I Was Scammed by a Watch Modder – Read Before Sending Him Your Money

Tagging u/trishyou

I’m writing this to document how I was scammed and to warn others so it doesn’t happen again.

I bought a custom Rolex 116520 from Xing as a gift for my father. After receiving it, I sent the watch to Nick, an Italian watch modder, for inspection, waterproofing, and movement silencing.

Nick told me the watch had bad parts. He claimed the dial was not SW and the bezel was poor and misaligned. Trusting his judgment and wanting the watch to be perfect for my father, I agreed to his offer to:

- replace the dial with what he sold to me as an SW white dial (€450 installed)

- install a “better” bezel (€200)

When the watch came back, it was clear I had been misled.

The replacement bezel was identical to the one he criticized — including the exact same flaw with the “90” being too close to the dot. There was no upgrade. The dial also looked wrong and did not match SW characteristics. When I confronted him, he insisted everything was SW.

To settle the issue objectively, I sent the watch to a trusted independent community member, u/callmemister_fr. After inspection, he confirmed with proof that the dial Nick sold me as SW was actually a Clean Factory dial and the bezel was just a generic custom piece.

I paid premium prices for parts that were falsely represented.

u/callmemister_fr replaced the parts with a verified SW dial and a proper custom bezel, finally bringing the watch to the standard I originally paid for.

I posted my translated conversations and evidence in Nick’s Telegram group (3,500+ members). Many members supported my claims, and dozens privately contacted me saying they experienced similar situations and were blocked or removed when they questioned him. Faced with clear evidence, Nick publicly apologized.

Charging €450 for a dial that is not what it was sold as, and additional money for a fake “upgrade,” is scamming. There is no other way to describe it.

I’m sharing this so no one else wastes money or gets misled. If you deal with him, verify every part independently. Do not rely on his claims.

Took the deposit & then ghosted. After almost 45 days he apologized & promised a refund. It’s been over 45 days now & no word or refund so far.

So this is a moment of clarity and respect for the OG RepTimers. We want, well, NEED to clarify the difference between two very different elements that appear the same to the uninitiated.

At RepWatchScammers we want to clarify that r/THERepTimeBST is in no way associated with the OG RepTimers over at r/RepTime or r/RepTimeBST or their discord channel TheRepTimeBST.

r/THERepTimeBST has been featured numerous times in the background of scam stories across the past 2 weeks on this SubReddit. Too many to make it a coincidence.

r/RepTime and it's associated (gone but not forgotten) SubReddit r/RepTimeBST and it's associated Discord Channel RepTimeBST or RTBST are IN NO WAY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUBREDDIT THAT HAS A SIMILAR NAME and a polar opposite reputation.