Stolen Omegas . . . ?

C

Posts

54

Likes

150

csf

·Aug 17, 2023

Two nights ago, at 2:30 in the morning, thieves drove a Ford 150 truck right through the front wiindow of my Omega AD's building, got out and robbed the store. Local news reports they got $700k in merchandise. That's actually pretty low for the large inventory normally in this store.

The Omega display is the very first thing customers pass as they enter the store . . . usually about 30 watches in the case. I can see from the photo ( attached ). the Omega sign and logo are actually still standing but the case is totally gone. Wondering if all those watches are gone too . . . .

Nice store and nice people. Last bought my Apollo 8 there.

 

Posts

1,855

Likes

2,818

Annapolis

·Aug 17, 2023

Hope they’ll release the serials so that preowned dealers and lay buyers will know to avoid them. But I suspect they’ll get fenced and sold via shadier means first.

 

Posts

2,781

Likes

4,693

Pastorbottle

·Aug 17, 2023

Psssssst! Wanna buy a watch???

 

Posts

7,682

Likes

14,208

Evitzee

·Aug 17, 2023

Surprised that in this part of the country a jeweler would have at least $700k of merchandise not in their walk in safe overnight. Best practice in the industry is to put all your high end merchandise in the safe anytime the store is not open. Doubly so now as we see more and more smash and grab robberies, and flash mobs. Also more and more common are steel bollards in front of the windows to prevent, or make harder, this kind of entry.

 

Posts

1,855

Likes

2,818

Annapolis

·Aug 17, 2023

Yeah, as someone who lives in the general area, I’m surprised too. The Baltimore/DC area is wonderful, but it’s not exactly known for its low rate of property crime.

Even the AD inside the (relatively secure) Annapolis mall keeps its stock in a safe after hours. And all the Rolex ADs I’ve visited now only have display models (sans movements) out.

 

Posts

2,645

Likes

2,960

texasmade

·Aug 17, 2023

I've been told that watch stores are required to remove all watches on display everyday before close and store in the safe/vault in order for merchandise to be insured. Sounds pretty reasonable so I'm pretty surprised that storing in the safe/vault overnight isn't more an industry standard in the US.

 

Posts

9,739

Likes

54,485

gbesq

·Aug 17, 2023

Even at 2.30 in the morning, I would think that driving a vehicle through a storefront would make enough noise to attract a lot of attention - and the police. The thieves had to burn more time grabbing the merchandise. The longer the process takes, the higher the risk of getting caught. Not to mention the risk of being captured on surveillance video which is virtually everywhere in most urban/suburban areas. This is amazingly bold. I guess it’s big business.

 

Posts

1,855

Likes

2,818

Annapolis

·Aug 17, 2023

Yeah, I’d imagine possibly an organized operation with the watches ending up on wrists in another country. (Akin to what the mob does with high end cars stolen in the US and then shipped to Europe and elsewhere.)

 

Posts

420

Likes

490

dstfno

·Aug 17, 2023

I feel that a new season of The Wire is coming

 

Posts

1,855

Likes

2,818

Annapolis

·Aug 17, 2023

The western district way, baby.

 

Posts

24,263

Likes

54,031

Dan S

·Aug 17, 2023

Someone would have had to make an unforgivable mistake to leave that much merchandise in the displays.

Anyway, was there something in the story that indicated a lot of Omega watches were stolen? It seems to be a general jewelry store, so the $700k could be anything.

 

Posts

9,739

Likes

54,485

gbesq

·Aug 17, 2023

Dan S

Someone would have had to make an unforgivable mistake to leave that much merchandise in the displays.

Anyway, was there something in the story that indicated a lot of Omega watches were stolen? It seems to be a general jewelry store, so the $700k could be anything.

Well, we know that there weren’t any Rolex watches available, so …

 

Posts

1,855

Likes

2,818

Annapolis

·Aug 17, 2023

Oh they’re there—in the safe—only to be brought out for the robbers with the highest spend-history.

 

Posts

9,739

Likes

54,485

gbesq

·Aug 17, 2023

Annapolis

Oh they’re there—in the safe—only to be brought out for the robbers with the highest spend-history.

Ah, I stand corrected!

 

Posts

2,781

Likes

4,693

Pastorbottle

·Aug 17, 2023

All the high end stuff probably was locked away,, but the stuff like swatches, which is the easy stuff to sell on without getting caught , was probably the target anyway.
The the sort of stuff like moon watch swatches are in high demand, easy to move on, they are relatively expensive enough to bother stealing but not too valuable as to attract too much unwanted attention and no one is gonna give a rats arse about serial numbers in that part of the market.
$700k retail, even if they only get $7k return for their nights work that’s a pretty good result for a couple of deadshit junkies.
If the crooks are a bit more pro than junkies then they’d probably make a bit more so still a good payday for a quick job.

 

Posts

1,855

Likes

2,818

Annapolis

·Aug 17, 2023

My SA told me the waitlist for stealing a “Batman” is 2 years. But I could probably nick one faster if I steal a bunch of earrings and a two-tone lady datejust first.

700k. Presumably these guys are gunning for a Platona.

 

C

Posts

54

Likes

150

csf

·Aug 17, 2023

As the original poster I want to repeat all the picture shows is the Omega display case, which was in the front right where the window was smashed, appears to be gone now. No way to know if there were watches in there. I hope not.

This is a very large, popular and successful business with millions of dollars of jewelry, diamonds, watches, engagement rings, gold and silver items, estate sales and other merchandise on display every day. I have no doubt they have every proper security process and procedures in place, including all appropriate safes and cameras.

But this world is crazy and these types of crimes fit right in.

 

Posts

1,484

Likes

8,113

NGO1

·Aug 17, 2023

The store is street front and they don’t lock away merchandise after closing? That’s nuts. Even mall jewelers put away goodies at closing.

That’s a major security flaw. No way this is their usual closing protocol. Having a million or two of inventory in glass, on display, thru the night, without guards.

 

Posts

96

Likes

115

wrist time

·Aug 18, 2023

Remember that fake story that was everywhere about more than 2 million dollars in Rolexes being stolen. When the truth was a watch store window was smashed and zero watches stolen. I bet this turns out to be something similar.

 

Posts

550

Likes

2,127

dougwhiz

·Aug 18, 2023

Store owner: There were a few watches stolen, I think they were worth 6 thou.... no, 7 hundred thousand dollars!