Watch Stolen Mid-Air
Excited to celebrate Eid with his family, Mr. Hameed was struggling to get back home due to the delays in flights caused by the recent floods that happened in the United Arab Emirates. As soon as he got to board the flight, he just kept his bags in the overhead bin and was seated in his assigned seat. Being a frequent traveller, Hameed does not really get excited and rather uses the travel time to catch on to some sleep. Out of his habit, that’s what he did. As soon as the airplane took off he just closed his eyes and dozed off.
As soon as he reached home in Riyadh, he realized that his Rolex watch was not on his wrist anymore, Hameed reported to Khaleej Times. He has not mentioned which watch it is. But from the value he has mentioned, it could be a Stainless Steel variant of GMT-Master II or a Sky-Dweller. It could have also been a two-tone variant of a Datejust or a Submariner.
This was of course not the first case of a watch getting stolen. However, it did shock a lot of people as getting robbed in broad daylight and that too in a flight filled with people is definitely horrifying.
Why are Thieves Targeting Luxury Watches?
Unless you have been living under a rock, you should have definitely come across many news articles expressing concerns about the increase in luxury watch robberies. Since the luxury watch market started booming, thieves saw their way of making easy money. While pickpocketing only got them some cash, stealing a watch meant that they could potentially cash in upwards of $10,000. And if they get lucky with the right watch, they might even fetch over $100,000.
These watches often get relatively less value when these thieves sell them in the grey market without papers, but for them, it is still a huge sum of money coming out of just stealing a watch off of someone’s wrist.
Precautionary Measures You Can Take
There are a few precautions you can take to avoid being a victim of luxury watch robbery. And even in case of an unfortunate event, you should be able to protect yourself.
- Avoid wearing luxury watches when you are traveling alone at night.
- Always keep your belongings locked and close to you while traveling in flights.
- Get a watch appraisal done for your timepiece and based on that apply for insurance.
- In an unfortunate event, dont wait and always immediately report the incident to the local authorities as soon as possible.
While you can always be extra careful, it is always good to apply for insurance for your watch. This way, even if you lose your watch, you can potentially get your money back. Watches are usually close to our hearts and the emotional loss is inevitable, but at least you can protect yourself from facing a financial loss.
