£2 million of 'bling' watches seized by police in raid on Westminster pawnbrokers

 
1/3
Justin Davenport6 June 2012
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Police have seized up to £2 million worth of expensive watches suspected of being stolen in robberies from wealthy victims in central London.

The 250 watches include platinum and diamond-encrusted models from brands such as Audemars Piguet, Franck Muller, Jacob and Co, Ulysse Nardin and Breitling.

Many are thought to have been snatched in “hugger mugger” attacks, where suspects lull their victims into a false sense of security by approaching them in the street under the guise of being friendly.

The watches were recovered in a raid on an unlicensed pawnbrokers in Westminster. A 39-year-old man has been arrested and is on bail. Police found 150 timepieces on sale in the suspect’s store and seized another 100 from a safe deposit store in Chelsea.

Detectives are investigating 48 attacks in Mayfair over the past three months but say many of the watches could have been stolen elsewhere.

One possible victim was Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who was attacked in Knightsbridge in 2010. Mr Ecclestone, 82, was punched to the ground by robbers as they stole £200,000 worth of jewellery from him and his girlfriend, Fabiana Flosi.

Detective Inspector Andrew Fleming, of Westminster CID, said: “We looked at the people going into the store and they did not necessarily fit the profile of the people in that area.

“The owner was putting around £500,000 worth of watches into the shop window each day.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in