Inside the world of luxury watch robberies as owners warned ‘Rolex Rippers’ could be watching them

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In January last year, a couple had spent an afternoon admiring fine jewellery at the Victoria & Albert Museum before enjoying a lunch in a wealthy Kensington neighbourhood. They browsed an interior designers showroom and went window shopping before deciding to call it a day and head home.

Little did they know they were about to become the final victims of the ‘Rolex Rippers’, a group of knife-wielding thugs wreaking havoc in West London. Driving a BMW X5, three masked men would screech to halt and assault the couple while brandishing a 15-inch zombie knife and demanding their Tag Heuer and Rolex Ladies Datejust watches.

A police chase led to their arrests, with pictures found on a mobile device of one of the group members posing with expensive stolen watches on each wrist.

The group of six are facing hefty jail sentences for their 18-day crime spree, which saw one man punched in the face and another two men targeted outside a pub for their £35,000 watches.

The rising criminal trend has seen a number of high-profile celebrities fall foul to watch robbers, including Songs of Praise presenter Aled Jones, who was robbed on July 7 in Chiswick.

While walking with his son, the Welsh singer, 52, was allegedly targeted by a teenager who threatened him with a machete before making away with his £17,000 Rolex watch.

The Sun reported that the Walking In The Air singer had been left “shocked” and “shaken” but was relieved that neither he nor his son were injured.

The Met Police said a 16-year-old boy was arrested and charged and is due to appear for trial at Wimbledon Youth Court on August 24.

Since 2015, the number of stolen watches recorded in England and Wales has nearly doubled from 6,696 to 11,035 last year.

Data obtained in a Freedom of Information request from Watchfinder & Co showed that more than 6,000 of incidents occurred within London, with the capital accounting for around four in ten of all thefts.

Meanwhile, West Yorkshire Police recorded 810 thefts, Hertfordshire Police recorded 507, West Midlands 376, Kent Police 324 and Northumbria Police 310. Only one in five watches are returned, with the company successfully stopping the re-sale of 200 watches that came through its doors.

Describing the rise in thefts as “disturbing”, Arjen van de Vall, CEO of Watchfinder & Co said: “We’re hoping to break the cycle between theft and re-sale by encouraging all customers to register their timepieces, as well as inspire all other pre-owned retailers to implement thorough checking processes for their stock. With these steps in place, we can help ensure the pre-owned sector is a safe and trustworthy place to shop.”

Speaking to The Independent, Alex Bomberg, CEO of specialist security firm Intelligent Protection, said that there had been a “big increase” in watch robberies in recent years.

“If you’re a high net worth individual, you need to think about your security,” he said. “Get a proper security assessment. It may mean that you need CCTV and better alarm systems, it may mean that you need to think as a family how you answer your door.

“There are lots of ways to approach this with regards to wearing watches and jewellery, people need to be aware of their surroundings, especially if you’re eating out at a restaurant. Streets change drastically when they get darker. If you’re organising a car to pick you up, get it to pick you up from the front door, don’t start walking the streets at night.”

He noted that a number of organised crime groups use spotters inside nightclubs, high-end restaurants and shops, who will text ahead to the gang to let them know who to target. Other spotters will work as drivers or will stalk social media sites, to look for anyone posing in an expensive location before tracking down their location.

“You can’t post things on social media like that, you are really asking for trouble,” Mr Bomberg said. “Then people know what you’ve got and can do as much research as they need.”

Last April, boxer Amir Khan was robbed of his £70,000 watch at gunpoint in Leyton. At around 9.10pm, he and his wife left a restaurant in High Street before they were approached by two men who shouted “take off the watch”, causing them to fear for their lives.

Dante Campbell, of Hornsey, and Ahmed Bana, of Tottenham, both pleaded guilty and are due to be sentenced in due course. Formula 1 driver Lando Norris was also mugged and had his watch stolen after watching the Euro 2020 Final at Wembley.

Targeted attacks against celebrities are not the only occasions watch theft have made headlines, with a number of unassuming members of the public falling foul to criminal gangs since the Covid-19 pandemic.

In one incident, a man stole a watch worth £145,000 after persuading his victim to have a drink with him. Lindell Angell befriended his unsuspecting victim on the Strand and convinced him to go to a nearby bar, where they drank alcohol and exchanged phone numbers.

On the walk home, Angell led his victim down a dark alley towards Embankment station before launching a vicious unprovoked attack, with CCTV showing him repeatedly punching and kicking his helpless victim.

A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “Every robbery has a devastating impact on the victim which can leave long-term implications. The Met is always striving to swiftly identify, arrest and convict robbery suspects where there is the evidence to support our investigations.

“Officers are proactively conducting targeted patrols in robbery hotspots across London, working with local and central teams to develop insightful intelligence, and collaborating with partners to provide diversionary activities aimed at repeat offenders.”