Alert: Major Theft To Report

Evitzee · Oct 27, 2019

Just reread the initial post which has been updated with serial numbers and other data. An ST2 was stolen and the box was gone through and only the LE card was taken.....very odd. A few other odd things were taken as well. It seems the thief kind of had an idea what he was doing and what was valuable. I'd definitely be grilling building management about who has access to keys, their method of allowing these keys to be checked out, who was on duty that day, etc. It might even be worthwhile to get a lawyer involved, if it was negligence on management's part they might be liable to some extent. At least worth a legal opinion. I hope that some of the stolen goods can be recovered, but these thefts are difficult to solve.

blubarb · Oct 28, 2019

abrod520
There may be, they mentioned that they would look, but they're currently in the process of upgrading security so the thief/ves may have taken the opportunity to do this while they had the best chance

Sounds to me that it may be possible that the thief/ves knew that the security was in transition -

asrnj77 · Oct 28, 2019

blubarb
Sounds to me that it may be possible that the thief/ves knew that the security was in transition -

Sounds to me like the thieves may have been working on the upgrade. It's always interesting how an expensive hidden safe gets broken into shortly after it's installed or a home gets broken into while the alarm company is installing new cameras/alarms. If I was a betting man I'd say it's an inside job.

Socks · Oct 28, 2019

That's a bloody disaster! Tossers!! Such a collection will be difficult to move on without one of these re-surfacing, surely.

abrod520 · Oct 28, 2019

I don't expect the police to do much, as is the custom. But having the serial numbers in the report, as well as being able to provide copies of it to the online stolen watch registries and the auction houses provides some hope of eventually recovering something.

BlackTalon · Oct 28, 2019

Yeah, you will likely have to devote time to being the detective, as it is doubtful the police will spend any time on it. Did they at least look for fingerprints?

The thief knew you had watches, likely knows watches themselves, knew the security system was down, and knew how to get into your apartment. It is wasn't someone from the management or security company, good chance it is an acquaintance of one of theirs.

JohnnyRocket · Oct 28, 2019

abrod520
... of all of my watches save the one I’m wearing. Stolen out of my apartment in Oakland, CA today. No signs of forced entry suggesting a building contractor or other personnel.

UPDATED WITH SERIALS AND MORE DESCRIPTIONS

Heuer Carrera 2447N, serial 69863, on a black strap with sun buckle

Heuer Autavia Siffert, serial 143084, on a black strap

Omega Speedmaster Ultraman, LE# 156/2012 , serial 78800112 - no box/ papers/ accessories, on a brown Cordura strap. Curiously, they did take the time to go through the box and take the LE card though.

Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday LE # 103/2012 , serial 78760302 - no box/ papers/ accessories, on a black coated nylon strap

Omega Speedmaster 145.022-71, very rare No-NASA caseback, serial 32204861, on a grey leather nato. Slightly chipped bezel, note wear between 60 and tachymetre

Heuer Carrera 1153, on a brown Wristwatch.me strap. The serial number is too worn to be readable, but is visible. Small ding on the bezel at 7 o'clock

Heuer Carrera 1553, serial 255310 , on a Moss Green Hodinkee strap. Has a Pulsations scale which is very rare (also note the offset 60 at 6 o clock) and please note the rare marker style.

Omega Speedmaster 105.003-65, on a 1039 with shaved 516 endlinks. I don't have the serial but its condition should be noted

Omega Seamaster 300 1957 Trilogy on its original bracelet. I don't have the LE number or serial: Box / papers / accessories WERE stolen for some reason....

Omega Speedmaster Japan Racing 2004, serial 77129849 , on a grey JPM punched suede strap. No box or papers, they were untouched.

Heuer Camaro 9220T, serial 98825 (rare 5 digits for a Camaro) on a light tan strap with Heuer B buckle. Please note the rare tachymetre scale for a Valjoux 92 model; also the condition of the dial lume.

Heuer Camaro 7220SN, serial 175006 , on a brown leather strap. This watch is extremely rare and they don't come up for sale often at all.

Omega Speedmaster 105.012-65, serial 24957726 , on a 1039/516 bracelet

Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Vintage, serial 134.8.C1 , on a brown strap. No box or papers, they were untouched.

Omega Speedmaster 145.022-69 with 220 bezel, serial 30996443 , on a worn out Kizzi Nasa velcro strap. Please note the chipped bezel.

Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical on brown leather Nato with PVD keepers. I don't know the serial as Hamilton did not fill out the warranty card fully. No box / papers / accessories, they were untouched.

And the box & papers for my steel Apollo XI 50th Anniversary were taken, though the watch was not as I had worn it to work.

Additionally, a number of my dress shirts were taken from my closet near where the stolen accessory boxes were, as well as two Yankees caps from my living room. Both New Era - one fitted / flat brim, one adjustable. They took these but no electronics...

Please if you have any contacts who can get the word out I’d really appreciate it. I got home after 8pm tonight and don’t know if they’re already pawned or something, but I’ll be reaching out to area dealers in the morning.

Guess that’s it for me for now.

This thread has made me truly saddened by your losses. I hope that your local Law enforcement will be able to recover them back for you. Truly hell has a very special place for these bastards. I wish you well and better Luck!

larryganz · Oct 28, 2019

Wow, just wow. So sorry this happened.

I wonder why the police would not be more involved or motivated in trying to solve a case with such high dollar value losses, especially with a suspect list already so easy to investigate?

I even find it hard to understand with maybe just one watch that they don't get involved. When I traded my CK-2998 LE to my watchmaker for a TT Submariner, the shop kept the watch in his display case for a long time with no interest from buyers. After a while they forgot to put the watch in the safe at night, and eventually someone broke in through the ceiling and stole the watch, leaving behind the box and papers and original strap (it was on an 1125 bracelet). I didn't know this had happened until I went back to my watchmaker to see if he would trade back, and he said he would but the watch had been stolen 2 weeks earlier.

The police report had been filed, and months later someone on the forums pointed out the watch (CK-2998 LE # 911 with warranty card dated 9/11 as well) was on eBay from a seller who tended to sell things from estate sales (I think). We reported this to the police and the insurance company MULTIPLE times and could not get the detective to get involved in retrieving the watch. It was very frustrating, because not only are the police not required to prevent crime or keep you safe, but they are not required to solve crimes or act on the detective work of the victims to solve the crime and see that justice is served.

The watchmaker then contacted the person with the stolen watch and tried to sell them the box/papers and strap, since he'd been paid by the insurance company and the Ins co and Police were doing nothing to get the watch back. I think he was too late.

BlackTalon · Oct 28, 2019

larryganz
The police report had been filed, and months later someone on the forums pointed out the watch (CK-2998 LE # 911 with warranty card dated 9/11 as well) was on eBay from a seller who tended to sell things from estate sales (I think). We reported this to the police and the insurance company MULTIPLE times and could not get the detective to get involved in retrieving the watch. It was very frustrating, because not only are the police not required to prevent crime or keep you safe, but they are not required to solve crimes or act on the detective work of the victims to solve the crime and see that justice is served.

Sadly, they have zero interest in pursuing any crimes that did not include violence. Had a similar issue a couple decades ago when someone snatched my accounts at Bank of America. We tracked the thieves back to a rented mailbox in another state, and even called and spoke to the manager there, who indicated that particular box was full of what appeared to be mail from many financial institutions. We also retried copies of money orders purchased at Post Offices, which had some ID info attached to them. neither the local police or the police in the other city had any interest in follow-up on the info we provided. In the end the ring was busted by American Express, who were pursuing they own fraud investigation using their own personnel/ contractors.

Which leads to another possibility -- since there is so much $$$ involved, consider hiring a private investigator to pursue this.

larryganz · Oct 28, 2019

BlackTalon
Sadly, they have zero interest in pursuing any crimes that did not include violence. Had a similar issue a couple decades ago when someone snatched my accounts at Bank of America. We tracked the thieves back to a rented mailbox in another state, and even called and spoke to the manager there, who indicated that particular box was full of what appeared to be mail from many financial institutions. We also retried copies of money orders purchased at Post Offices, which had some ID info attached to them. neither the local police or the police in the other city had any interest in follow-up on the info we provided. In the end the ring was busted by American Express, who were pursuing they own fraud investigation using their own personnel/ contractors.

Which leads to another possibility -- since there is so much $$$ involved, consider hiring a private investigator to pursue this.

Just 30 years ago, when cars were simply vandalized, the police would come out and take finger prints, and try to connect crimes with the same MO. And yet just 10 years later they wouldn't even pursue a federal mail and wire fraud case. Disgraceful.

Fatcat · Oct 28, 2019

Feel your pain :-((((

Andy K · Oct 28, 2019

BlackTalon
Sadly, they have zero interest in pursuing any crimes that did not include violence.

+1. The apartment my wife and I were living in was burglarized around 18 years ago, and the detective that was assigned to the case flat out told us that the police's role in theft and burglary cases without violence was essentially creating a required paper trail for the insurance company - no actual investigation or detective work would be done. We were even encouraged to pad the report if we wanted to. Ick.

The police may not actively try to track them down but hopefully this thread spreading awareness will ensure that these watches will be difficult to shuffle around and eventually resurface.

Larry S · Oct 28, 2019

@abrod520 ... I have a question that I do not believe has been asked. Were these watches in a safe?

cooljme · Oct 28, 2019

This is really devastating. I'm so sorry man. Will keep an eye if anything pops up in searches. Based in NYC but you never know.
Hopefully you will recover them.

saulgoodman · Oct 28, 2019

larryganz
Just 30 years ago, when cars were simply vandalized, the police would come out and take finger prints, and try to connect crimes with the same MO. And yet just 10 years later they wouldn't even pursue a federal mail and wire fraud case. Disgraceful.

First, by way of correction, federal mail and wire fraud are offenses investigated and prosecuted by federal authorities like the FBI, Postal Inpectors, etc. Local law enforcement would not be involved. Second, I know many local law enforcement officers in my community. They would tell you this. The attention a case receives depends on the type of community where the crime is committed. In a small sleepy town where the crime problem is relatively small, and the police force can dedicate significant time to things like one-off robberies, there would be a dedicated investigation. However, when you change the location to a large city that is rampant with serious crime, and where the police are literally overwhelmed with incidents that often include extreme violence, then priorities necessarily change. They would love to have the manpower resources to address every crime, but when the crime level goes up exponentially thresholds are established and the more serious crimes clearly must take priority. Likewise, on the prosecution side, local prosecutors in large jurisdictions are often saddled with fifty or more serious cases at a time. Getting their attention is often difficult. Trust me, I did that for a while. This, unfortunately is a sign of the times we live in.

In this case, where the OP reports that his watches were stolen from his apartment without signs of forced entry the fact pattern does have the potential of pointing to someone who had access to the apartment and knew the watches were there. If nothing else was stolen, then it was definitely an inside job probably conducted by someone who knows the OP, and to whom the OP has displayed his collection, or at least spoken about it. In any case, I wonder if the OP has reported the aggregate value of the watches to the police? It looks to me to be a valuable collection, and sometimes the value of the things stolen ups the ante as far as "seriousness" is concerned. If the police are still not willing to conduct active investigation, the OP may want to hire a reputable licensed private investigator to look into the matter. Many PI's are former cops. Firstly, the PI can use his contacts to determine if an investigation is actually being conducted. Cops don't telegraph that type of thing. Secondly, the PI can conduct a cursory investigation of the matter himself. This can be especially helpful if, as the OP suspects, a contractor or someone with access to his place was involved because that is a limited universe of suspects. If the PI finds some leads that can be reported to the police the cops will definitely take a slam dunk.

Having said all that, my first question to the OP would be, who knew that you kept your watch collection at home?

wx_073 · Oct 28, 2019

Sorry to hear it! I'm really looking forward on update with happy end.

The Father · Oct 28, 2019

Larry S
@abrod520 ... I have a question that I do not believe has been asked. Were these watches in a safe?

Did not want to be the one to ask this question.....

abrod520 · Oct 28, 2019

The watches were not in a safe but it wouldn't have mattered - I live in an apartment where I cannot bolt a safe down (or place a heavy one on the floor) and it would have just been taken as a unit. The watches were taken in the display boxes I keep, as well as the large accessory boxes for the Omega trilogy and 50th Anniversary pieces, which are fairly large as-is.

While I do not expect the police to do much, I would like to add that those that I have spoken to have been compassionate and helpful in at least pushing through the report - which, now that I have, I can send to the auction houses and upload to the online stolen watch registries. I'm pursuing other channels of investigation as well, but most places will stonewall unless the police are involved.

td69 · Oct 28, 2019

So sorry to hear this and hoping for the best possible outcomes soon.

flw · Oct 28, 2019

Sorry if this has been posted already, but I just noticed that this is now getting some serious publicity: https://api.watchville.co/v2/posts/45988/click

Alert: Major Theft To Report

Evitzee

blubarb

asrnj77

Socks

abrod520

BlackTalon

JohnnyRocket

larryganz

BlackTalon

larryganz

Fatcat

Andy K

Larry S

cooljme

saulgoodman

wx_073

The Father

abrod520

td69

flw

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