When it’s Better to Leave Your Watch at Home
By TorchStone Senior Analyst, Ben West
Editor’s Note:
Shortly before this piece was published, TorchStone learned that another high-profile individual is in critical condition after being shot by a group of thieves trying to steal his Rolex watch on September 13. Online fitness influencer and gym owner Miguel Angel Aguilar was shot in the face during an armed robbery outside his Bel Air home in Los Angeles. The incident only reinforces the lessons outlined in this week’s analysis about the threats surrounding luxury watch crime and the importance of giving up possessions instead of resisting armed aggressors.
Luxury watches are popular investments, but owners should be prepared to part with them instead of risking their lives to defend them.
On Monday, September 9, San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall sat out what should have been the first professional game of his career against the New York Jets. His coaches expect him to sit out at least the next three games, as well. But he’s not on the bench due to any football-related injuries—he is recovering from injuries sustained from a completely avoidable criminal incident that nearly cost him his life.
Ten days prior, during the afternoon of August 31, an armed 17-year-old approached Pearsall near San Francisco’s Union Square and demanded his Rolex watch at gunpoint. Pearsall resisted the assailant, resulting in a struggle that left both the rookie wide receiver, and the suspect injured with gunshot wounds. San Francisco Police immediately responded, stabilized Pearsall, and got him hospitalized for a bullet wound to the chest. Fortunately for Pearsall, the bullet narrowly missed his vital organs and doctors released him the following day. However, even his non-life-threatening injuries will take time to fully heal, costing him valuable playing time early in the season.
Regular readers of The Watch will immediately recognize Pearsall’s mistake, which could have needlessly cost him his life: he resisted an economic crime. Readers can reference our earlier publication on Surviving Economic Crimes for a long list of examples of people unnecessarily dying or suffering critical injuries while resisting efforts to steal cash or valuable possessions. A luxury watch is much easier to replace than your health—or your life. While there are some scenarios in which it is imperative to resist attacks, in nearly all cases it is wise to comply with armed criminal demands. While parting with prized possessions worth thousands of dollars is not ideal, it is better than the alternative, especially if the watch is properly insured.
Luxury watch owners should be aware of the intense criminal interest in stealing high-end watches. The attack against Pearsall is at least the second incident involving criminals targeting high-profile athletes’ watches in five months. In April, professional tennis player Sebastian Korda gave up his €300,000 Richard Mille wristwatch to “two helmeted individuals” during the Monte-Carlo Masters tournament.
But there have been multiple other cases in recent years: In 2022, thieves stole Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc’s $320,000 Richard Mille watch in Italy and in 2021 thieves similarly targeted F1 driver Lando Norris’s $100,000 watch at London’s Wembley Stadium. There have been numerous other examples of less well-known individuals suffering injuries while resisting attempts to steal their luxury watches.
Luxury watches are particularly attractive to criminals for their size-to-value ratio and the relative ease of absconding with a wristwatch. Luxury watches can easily fetch tens of thousands of dollars, and the most high-end pieces can be worth as much as $1 million. Unlike cars, art, or other larger collectibles that hold similar value, luxury watches are small and easy to move undetected across international borders. They are also easier to steal, relative to larger items. In the example above involving F1 driver Charles Leclerc, he didn’t even realize that his watch was gone until several minutes after it had been stolen. It appears that a skilled thief slipped it off his wrist while Leclerc was greeting a group of fans and signing autographs. Of all the assets worth five to seven figures, watches are one of only a few items that are worn openly in public and secured by a simple, unlocked latch.
While luxury watches have always been a popular target for criminals, supply disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic drove up the value of pre-owned luxury watches from 2020-2022, which further incentivized luxury watch theft. Despite the normalization of supply issues, the secondary luxury watch market continues to thrive, meaning that there is ample demand for thieves to continue targeting luxury watch owners.
Luxury watch thefts can happen anywhere, but gangs have been known to work in groups to spot a target—typically in high-end shopping areas associated with wealthy individuals who are more likely to wear luxury watches. Areas like Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, Midtown or Tribeca in Manhattan, and Mayfair in London are favoured hunting grounds for such gangs. Once they have spotted a target, one member of the team will follow while others will get in place to pre-position a getaway car, another member may distract the target, and yet another will ultimately take the luxury watch.
So far, it appears that the suspect who targeted Ricky Pearsall was acting alone, but the location of the attack should not come as a surprise. The suspect confronted Pearsall in San Francisco’s Union Square, an area associated with high-end fashion, jewelry boutiques, and stores that sell luxury watches. It’s likely that the suspect was scouting the area for victims and had noticed Pearsall’s watch well before the physical confrontation. While statistics show that crime has been declining in Union Square, it’s been a volatile area associated with property crime in recent years.
Whether as a collectible item, investment, or personal satisfaction, people have every right to purchase and enjoy luxury watches. However, it is important for owners of those watches to understand the risks associated with wearing them in public. Displaying items worth more than most people earn in a year (or even a lifetime) can motivate people to act on their greed and use violence to overcome their targets. There are well-established criminal networks that not only work to identify and steal luxury watches but also to sell them on secondary markets for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Especially when traveling through higher-crime areas, it may be wise to leave the Patek Philippe at home—both for the sake of the watch’s value and the wearer’s health.
Before making such an investment—and certainly before wearing a luxury watch out in public—one must recognize the risks, properly insure the purchase, and be mentally prepared to part with the watch or other possessions if threatened with deadly force. Your watch is not worth your life.