Editor’s Note
This tragic incident in London underscores a disturbing global trend of violent thefts targeting luxury watch owners in major cities. It serves as a stark reminder for collectors and enthusiasts to remain vigilant about personal security.
A Grim Trend in Major Cities
In early July, headlines in the U.K. served as a grim reminder of the threats facing luxury watch owners in big cities around the world. The story documented the stabbing death of a 24-year-old father of two who was attacked by an armed mugger outside a casino in London’s upscale Knightsbridge neighborhood.
A Shift in Criminal Patterns
Watch and jewelry theft has long been a problem for jewelry store owners. But over the past seven years, police and industry investigators have noticed a worrisome uptick in the number of crimes targeting luxury watch owners.
“Watch crime was at an all-time high just before the pandemic in 2019, but the nature of crimes was different,” Katya Hills, managing director of The Watch Register in London, tells Robb Report. “They were more to do with smash-and-grabs from jewelry stores. Whereas now, the prevalent type of crime with watches is street robberies from individuals. Often, you’ll have two robbers on a moped. They’ll be bearing weapons, knives, etc. And they will attack watch owners in the street often in broad daylight. That was happening before as well, but now that has really spiraled out of control.”
Hotspots and Criminal Networks
While Hills was referring to crimes in a narrow swath of central west London, she also notes that Barcelona has emerged as a hot spot for watch theft, with tourists often targeted in the city center, even in broad daylight. The speed at which thieves move stolen merchandise around makes it extremely difficult to catch them.
“There are networks of thieves working together,” she says. “They steal a watch and within seconds, the watch is passed on to someone else, who is what we call a ‘fence.’ A fence is someone who receives the stolen goods and then is responsible for selling it to someone else or putting it into the trade.”
Why Watches Are Targeted
Hills attributes the increase in street robberies involving watches to the strength of the pre-owned market and the fact that many models still fetch above retail in secondary channels, making them appealing to thieves. She adds that watches are, in many ways, the perfect candidates for theft.
“Clearly, these are small, portable, easy to steal, high-value goods,” she says. “They’re traceable only by serial number. You can’t just look at a watch and say, ‘That’s stolen.’ It’s not like a painting, which is distinctive visually. It’s very easy for thieves to put a watch on their wrist and take those watches abroad to be sold elsewhere.”
Most Targeted Brands
It should come as no surprise that Rolex tops the list of brands sought after by criminals. In the Watch Register’s case, the brand accounts for 45% of the thefts in its database, out of an estimated 850 brands, Hills says.
“It’s largely the Rolex sports models, mostly the men’s models because they’re more expensive and you have more men wearing these watches,” Hills says. “But also Patek Philippe, Omega, Cartier. In fact, Cartier we’ve seen in the last year has jumped up the list of most commonly stolen brands from the fifth position to the second position. It shows the increasing desirability of Cartier watches and that follows market trends. Cartier has really seen a big boom over the last year.”
Protection and Recovery Advice
To protect themselves and their timepieces, watch lovers should be wary of flashing their wrists in public, Hills says.
“Maybe wear something longer sleeved,” she suggests. Noting a watch’s serial number is another essential precaution. “The vast majority of watch thefts will never be recorded on a database where they can be traced because victims more often than not don’t record the serial number,” Hills says. “And if you don’t record the serial number, you can’t ever get that watch back.”
In addition to recording the serial number, she advises watch owners to take photos of the watch’s paperwork and keep a digital record in order to make it easier to report the watch as lost or stolen.
If a watch is in fact stolen, time is of the essence. Report the robbery to The Watch Register, the police, and to your insurance company immediately.
“The speed of reporting is really important because these watches are resold within minutes or hours,” Hills says.
In the aftermath of a robbery, the recovery process begins. But, Hills warns,
“it can take anywhere from many months to many years for just one watch. We’ve got hundreds of cases on the go at any one time.”
