Avi Viera interview

I reluctantly share this link as it comes from blog that also features interviews with dubious characters such as Skelton, Davis, and Magen.

http://time2talkwatches.com/Blog/?p=236

You know I can't stand the guy that runs that blog. He is quick to scrub it. Seems to be in it just for free watches. Yes Robert I think your a piece of work(being nice). I would never put up his blog as it is garbage.

He gets free watches? Based on characters he interviews, he may have just cracked the $200 total value barrier in free watches.

He's a damn groupie for TV Watch Carnies!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seems like a nice guy to me. I don't understand the negativity. How do we know he's getting free watches?

I smell a troll.....

Me two............

Me three

Call me what you will, gentlemen. I'm no troll.

I'm not the type to jump on any sort of bandwagon just because they seem to be popular ones. I'm objective and I won't always agree with you or dislike what you dislike.

Have a wonderful day gentlemen. Enjoy your watches and relax. This is a fairly tame hobby we have here.

The guys blog is full of interviews with TV watch salesmen/women Stormchaser. Perhaps it's not the best place to get REAL information. Maybe he is a nice guy...who knows, but the blog is a joke. I don't think you're a troll Stormchaser, I think what we've got here is, failure to communicate.

I'll admit I don't find the blog very interesting, but the (soft ball) questions being tossed seem respectful. I guess that's why I don't get foamed at the mouth about it. Seems rather harmless and boring.

DBCooper wrote:...I don't think you're a troll, Stormchaser...

Me, neither, Stormy...and I still believe that Avi is nothing more than a 'shillstress.' Alluring, to be sure, but a shillstress* nonetheless...

*The term 'shillstress' comes to us courtesy of a Mr. F. Leghorn, an horological philosopher and semi-curmudgeonly gentleman who is perhaps best known for an ongoing tendency to eat with his pecker.

I will say the Avi you see on TV is for the most part the same Avi in real life. She does not steer away from the Renato questions and if you listen to her closely she does not ever (knowingly) misrepresent or lie about the brand she is representing on TV. Those of you that have seen her posts on Watchlords and elsewhere know she can be more edgy when not on TV but other than that what you see is what you get. Sure she is a brand representative and is there to sell watches so she will obviously not point out any issues on the watches or their respective companies but she really does believe in the brands she is selling.

Do you know her personally? That's a bold statement unless you spend time with her. I'm not bashing, but that is quite the leap of faith to assume something like that. I don't know her. I don't judge her either. I just know through experience that you can get burned quickly without knowing someone.

Teddybear wrote:Do you know her personally? That's a bold statement unless you spend time with her. I'm not bashing, but that is quite the leap of faith to assume something like that. I don't know her. I don't judge her either. I just know through experience that you can get burned quickly without knowing someone.

Teddybear - I don't take your post as bashing and what you write is very true. Yes I do know Avi personally. I became acquainted with her when she first started to sell watches on JTV. She always wanted to learn more about watches so that she could have a better on-air presentation for the collectors, viewers and buyers who were watching the programs.

That's a whole new deal. Some personal insight is always good. Especially in things that seem to be as touchy as watches.

Mortuus wrote:I still believe that Avi is nothing more than a shillstress.

I agree with ^.

Lost all hope she would be different tv carni barker when she said that Renato's use of a mineral crystal on a particular model was because it shipped with a rubber strap.

For that I will put her in the same boat as the rest of them.


For the record, her timing was well planned on watchlords and extremely short lived. Though she handled herself ok, she was handled with kid gloves. Partly because of her gender and mostly due to the respect of a long standing member there. Since she disappeared, her welcome I'm sure would be different if she ever resurfaces. Just my .02

Shame JTV watch shows are gone, purchased a nice high end greymarket watch from that network years ago despite Dim Temple.

I do believe salespeople will push the envelope to sell their items. I've worked in car dealerships long enough to see it many times over. The difference in my eyes are the good ones know what to say and especially what NOT to say. The bold faced liars are the ones to burn customers. I haven't seen this girl enough to make my opinion yet. Fact of the matter is more are seeing deceit than just salesmanship. Knowing how to walk the fine line will bring success. This is once again my thoughts on the matter.

I guess the fundamental problem that I have with Avi is that she (or at least MBZ) put herself out there as a very knowledgeable watch person, even an expert. Then, when her well-timed membership on WL began, she presented herself as someone who just wanted to learn about watches, become more knowledgeable in support of her TV gig, etc. Very deferential, very solicitous, etc. She even did her best to charm a couple of WL's most curmudgeonly curmudgeons - with decidedly mixed results. However, everyone wished her luck with her TV re-debut as the Renato 'ambassador', irrespective of their personal feelings about her being a newbie on WL.

And then she got on the air and pushed the whole 'hand made - Swiss Mov't' claim as fact.

I am by no means an horological expert. But even I know that Renatos are not 'hand made,' like it says on the dial. Even I know that the term 'Swiss Mov't' is meaningless and not even addressed by the Swiss federation. I love my Renatos, but that doesn't keep me from seeing the truth, warts and all. There are more 'iffy' things about my favorite brand and its 'ambassador' that I could go into, but I see no point in going on and on, ad infinitum.

Tinman, it is not my intent to insult your friend; indeed, like T-Bear, I'm glad to have your insight into Avi's personality. Having said that, though, there is a very well-defined line between selling and shilling, and no one who crosses it can claim to be unaware that they're doing so. No matter how nice or how physically attractive that person might be.

A number of years before earning my USN commission, I was a police officer in a 'major metropolitan area.' While there, I became very good friends with a now-retired homicide detective who became notorious for a recording of him using the 'n-word' during an ostensibly off-the-record interview. That tape was later used to discredit him as a witness during a rather high-profile murder trial some 15 years ago. Was he my friend? Yes. Did I like my friend? Yes. Is my friend a racist? Yes. Anyone who uses that terrible word is a racist in my book. Period. I still like my friend, though I am painfully aware of this tragic shortcoming on his part.

Avi is certainly not guilty of something as nasty as that, but she is a shill for promulgating many of the 'non-truths' about Renato that still haunt the brand, despite its new owner. I've no agenda against Avi, and I bear her no personal ill will. But I do know a turd from a tearose when I see it, whether it's popular piece of knowledge or not.

Sorry for the novella ( ), all, but I didn't want anyone to think that my previously posted opinions about Avi were frivolous or not well-thought-out. The eyes and mind are wide open, as they've always been.

Mortuus OUT.

The way I see it is, she has bills to pay and most of us (I hope) are smart enough to smell bullshit when it's obviously there.
So, my point is... I don't care what she says. I find it humorous at times, but I'm smart enough to realize what I'm buying and (most importantly) what I'm NOT buying.
If MZB hands her a script to use to sell watches, she has two choices.
1. Do it and pay her bills.
or
2. Don't do it and find another job in this shitty economy.
If the geeks fall for any bullshit spewed, I don't care. If a pair of boobs and a script sell watches, that's the American way. The company does well and people stay employed.
The only thing we should be concerned with, IMO, is to remain educated consumers.
I realize that's probably not the popular opinion when it comes to TEEVEE watch sales, but I also try not to take these things too seriously.

I understand what you're saying, 'Chaser, but in any endeavor, be it a hobby or something more serious, such as an occupation, there are certain standards of integrity and behavior that separate the genuine professional from the dabbling charlatan. Most of us strive for the former and reject the latter. Simply saying that we should all be smart enough to see through the BS does not relieve us of the subjective-yet-very-real responsibility to work towards higher standards in all that we try to accomplish.

If these standards are acknowledged and practiced by the majority of those who choose to engage in a given hobby, profession or belief, it improves and enhances the experience of that hobby, profession or belief. And, for better or worse, it also requires us to identify and reject those elements that detract from and even bring harm to the activity(s) or belief(s) we engage in.

Is Avi a part of the 'bad element' associated with watch collecting? From my standpoint the answer is yes. No, she's not 'evil', but I find her 'professional mendacity' to be every bit as embarrassing to the hobby as Shawn Wilsie, Michael Davis, Tim Temple and even Jim 'Jaws' Skelton because, like them, she's little more than a 'sales rep' who cares nothing for the genuine integrity most of us choose to embrace. Hey, it is her right to earn a living, but that doesn't mean she's exempt from the criticism or ire of those who believe she is not meeting the very high standards that we as collectors (or WIS's) almost always set for ourselves.

I suppose I could be accused of being naive, at best, or, at worst, a snob, but the ground truth is that there are always better behaviors and standards that should be strived for. They are the natural outcroppings of the passion we feel for our rather strange, compelling 'little hobby.'

'Chaser, I have thoroughly enjoyed your insightful posts and discussions on this forum, and I firmly believe that you're no more a troll than I am. Which makes this particular statement strike me as being genuinely and depressingly cynical:

stormchaser wrote:"If the geeks fall for any bullshit spewed, I don't care. If a pair of boobs and a script sell watches, that's the American way. The company does well and people stay employed."

Really?

Really?

I would submit that, yes, it'll work that way for a while, but in the final analysis, it bites everyone in the ass and ultimately blemishes (and even destroys, in some cases) the very passion that fuels this marvelous passtime of ours.

There. I'm finally off that bloodydamned soapbox...many thanks for reading this overlong and somewhat rambling post. No insult or accusation was intended, but I figure you already know that.

'Mortuus is winchester, angels two-six, R-T-B, OUT'

I agree with you for the most part Mortuus.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if it's sold on TV, you sorta get what you pay for and I've just learned to accept that.

I don't put these watches (or the people selling them) on any sort of pedestal. Although it is interesting to read into things and criticize (constructively) from time to time.

Stormchaser wrote:I agree with you for the most part Mortuus.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if it's sold on TV, you sorta get what you pay for and I've just learned to accept that.

I don't put these watches (or the people selling them) on any sort of pedestal. Although it is interesting to read into things and criticize (constructively) from time to time.

Yep, definitely on the same page here...

Seems like a nice girl.

*I-Am-No-Expert-ALERT*

The rule of thumb, as ever, has to be caveat emptor. It doesn't matter if they're butt-ugly: if what they are offering looks to be too good to be true, then it probably is. It doesn't matter if it's Invicta, Renato or SO: people have wised up and even they must know that if they're going to try to pull a fast one then they will be found out, sure as night follows day.