Criminal gangs are “entrenched” in the theft of luxury watches, a chairman of a watch recovery database has warned after registered losses surged.
The Watch Register, the world’s largest international database of lost and stolen watches, had over £150m worth of luxury watches reported as lost or stolen last year.
Brits made up £60m of losses, as the total value of stolen or lost watches on the register reached £1.6bn in 2024.
Julian Radcliffe, founder and chairman of The Watch Register told City AM: “The Watch Register believes the spike in prices of pre-owned luxury watches during COVID attracted an increase in organised crime focusing on stealing luxury watches.
“They found the growing financial rewards of this market attractive, and it can also be easier to sell/transport stolen luxury watches than drugs, for example.”
Richard Mille watches most stolen
All top ten luxury timepieces lost or stolen in the last 12 months were from the Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille and had a combined estimated value of more than £2.4m.
The most expensive of the bunch was a stolen Richard Mille 72-01, which has an estimated open market value of £300,000.
Four out of five of the highest-value lost and stolen watches that The Watch Register was able to locate were all Patek Phillipe with a combined resale value of £450,000.
The register uses unique serial numbers to trace the international market for signs of the missing watch, and if found work with the owner to assist in recovery.
The Watch Register successfully identified over 1,200 lost and stolen watches in the last 12 months, a 70 per cent uptake on the previous year’s success rate.
Radcliffe said: “It’s worth pointing out that the increase in the value of luxury watches listed on The Watch Register is not down to an appreciation in the value of luxury watches – valuations have actually been falling.
“It is down to an increase in the number of stolen watches and more being registered with The Watch Register.”
Managing director Katya Hills said: “The £1.6bn value of the watches registered with us demonstrates the active measures that victims, insurers and police are taking to track down stolen watches and tackle luxury watch crime.
“Our database is trusted by businesses and buyers across the US, Europe and Asia to conduct quick and dependable theft checks in real time.”