What's The Deal With All These Watch Robberies? Leclerc, Khan, Jamaux, Belhassen.

Watch theft is starting to become a bit of an epidemic, at least publicly. Literally, as I’ve been sitting here writing this article, a notification popped up on my phone that a couple of hours ago, Charles Leclerc announced that his $320,000 Richard Mille was snatched off of his wrist in Viareggio, Italy. It was a bold swipe, as he was with his friends and trainer. And that’s not even the first THIS WEEK.

Professional Boxer Amir ‘King’ Khan posted that his diamond-studded Franck Muller was robbed off of his wrist at gunpoint in London.

Crypto Influencer Pierrick Jamaux was shot in an attempt to steal his Richard Mille while he was out with his Wife in New York City last month.

A man in New York City had his Patek Philippe Swiped by a bicyclist asking for a smoke.

Shay Belhassen, prominent California-based Jeweler, was robbed of his Richard Mille at Gunpoint as he dined in at Il Pastaio in Los Angeles.

I remember back in 2017, news broke in Geneva of an armed robbery at MB&F M.A.D. Gallery. Two men entered the Gallery, pulled out guns, and made out with more than a dozen watches from the display case. They immediately headed to the French border, and actually got away (though, the watches were eventually recovered in an almost comical fashion, Quill & Pad has the rest of that story here). I remember thinking “How weird… What a random place to rob. I’m surprised someone knew to target MB&F.”

A couple months earlier, Kunz in Geneva was also robbed, except that time, a hail of gunfire followed before the suspects were eventually arrested.

Why are these stories getting more and more prevalent in our industry? What’s causing so much of an uptick in blatant, broad-daylight heists of high end timepieces?

Craig recently tackled the topic of whether or not it was safe to wear your Rolex around New York City, and the general consensus is “Be Smart About It”. For a long time, the most commonly identifiable watch was a Rolex Submariner, but that’s changing and broadening as time goes on. So I’d like to take a minute and reflect on why more and more watches are getting stolen, and what can be done to help alleviate the problem.

Watch Coverage Is Getting A Lot More Common In the Mainstream

We’re seeing many more broad publications getting heavily into watch coverage, specifically around the auction scenes and watch spotting - And that’s putting a lot more eyes on both the value, and availability, and liquidity of wristwatches. In fact, even media is using watches as a means of determining wealth in a more direct way. Succession, for instance, has sparked a major trend in watch-spotting - So much so, that WristEnthusiast was invited to discuss the show with the Wall Street Journal.

I remember sitting with a group of friends after the Paul Newman Daytona sold for an absolute insane $17,700,000. After explaining the state of Rolex, it’s value on the secondary, and it’s popularity leading to one of the most expensive watch sales in history, one of them piped in with “Oh, my boss has a Daytona. You’re telling me it’s worth forty grand?”

I think that the level of coverage we are starting to see ramp up around the Watch industry is causing a lot more ill-set eyes on the possibility of quick paydays. In 2019, Paris claimed a 28% rise in watch crime over the year before, with a more direct prediction of a 50% rise in watch crime in the next 5 years (a percentage many claim has been far surpassed).

Rolex was typically the target, but thieves are catching on to higher-end pieces from more exclusive ateliers like Richard Mille, F.P. Journe, and MB&F (which has proven especially targeted). They’re more difficult to move, but worth significantly more when they do.

Suspects in Beverly Hills Richard Mille robbery.

Flexing on Social Media Has Played A Significant Part In the Increase in Robberies

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the same vein that has increased social media flexing, has increased access to celebrities with valuable watches.

In a lot of these celebrity or influencer watch robberies, we’ve seen them recently show off their acquisition on social media in one way or another. Oftentimes, even tagging the locations they are at when they take the picture. In the case of Amir ‘King’ Khan, he had recently posted from an event in London with the watch on his wrist. Not that it makes the robbery justified in any way, but it did make it easier to make it a crime of opportunity.

In the case of Pierrick Jamaux, the Crypto-Influencer was flaunting his Richard Mille at his own hotel right before a gunman shot him multiple times in the legs while he was getting out of his Uber at his hotel after a night out - All in an attempt to steal the watch of his wrist. It very much looks like the attempted robbery was a case of the thief seeing the influencers post, and waiting for him to return to his hotel.

We are all guilty of it, but there seems to be a significant rise of these kinds of robberies linked to showing off on social media. And watches are already small (unlike, say, a car, which would be harder to hide) and easily concealed. Simply getting it off of the wrist majorly increases a thief’s ability to make off with the watch. And Social Media has aided with one of the hardest parts of that trek - Time and Place.

Image provided by APEX.

Celebrity Culture and Watch Scarcity

I’ll preface this point by saying this IS NOT the only reason we are seeing an increase in blatant watch crime, but I will say it’s contributed to it. Celebrity Worship or idolization is in no way a new thing. We at WristEnthusiast (as does just about every other publication) even cover a slew of watches and personalities who wear them. Brand’s themselves clamor to get certain pieces on the wrists of celebrities, even recruiting them to be “ambassadors” for them. It’s cool to see unique watches on the wrists of someone you admire.

While, in days-past, many of these watches could be available to the public. Now, availability on many models is simply… well, not there. In fact, in my own hometown, 2 suspects hit our Rolex boutique in a smash-and-grab that left the boutique no longer keeping functional watches in the cases. So even if a thief wanted to steal watches without robbing an individual, it’s getting harder to do that (and good riddance). So? That leaves a more direct option - Take it from someone who has it.

When you marry these two issues, you find a conundrum of opportunity and recognition - Both of an individual and the watch. Someone may want the watch that Connor McGregor wears, but they either can’t afford it, or can’t get access to it. So for more criminally inclined people, it’s simply a matter of stealing it when the opportunity arises. And with both the increase in watch coverage, and the increase in celebrity worship, we see an increase in watch crime.

So what do we do?

We can’t have all the answer. No one can. There is always going to be those who wish harm, and always going to be those who want to take what isn’t theirs.

That being said, we can offer a few suggestions to help mitigate the risk, and lower your rate of getting burned out in public.

For starters, Don’t Post Your Watch From the Location You’re At Or Will Be At. This should really go without saying, but at the same time, it seems to be a common thread in these high-level and blatant robberies. If you’re going out to eat, and want to wear your nice watch, don’t post it from your location or make your whereabouts known, and when you will be there. For starters, when I take my nice watch traveling, I rarely post pictures before I return, and when I do, it’s because I’m with people I trust. Especially in major cities, there is some viable data to support that violent crime, theft of property, and assault has had a bit of an uptick since Covid, and even post Covid, so be safe, and be vigilant about what you post.

Secondly, Be Intentional About Where You Go With Your Watches. Again, it feels like this should go without saying. But maybe don’t sit outside of a restaurant where you can’t see your surroundings with a readily identifiable watch. Or avoid highly trafficked, and targeted areas by thieves - especially at night.

Finally, Get A Well Secured Safe. For the times when you aren’t out and about, keep your precious items secured in a locked location. Personally, I use a pretty generic watch safe I found on Amazon for a couple hundred dollars - It’s drilled into something solid so you’d essentially need a truck to get it out. while the public swipes tend to get a lot of coverage because of the brazenness, break-ins account for a lot of watch thefts in total.

Overall, be smart about your watches. While some thefts feel a little inevitable, some are very much preventable. I personally feel that a large portion of these high-profile thefts could have been avoided if Social Media flexing wasn’t so prevalent leading up to the incident. We are all guilty of it in one way or another, but I truly believe that the safety of the oneself is a lot less risked if being proactively thinking about what gets posted and where. Be safe out there guys and girls.

Have you ever had a watch stolen? Or an incident occur where you thought you might? Let us know in the comments below!