I’ve been very hermetic about what happened to me the night of September 27, 2019; however, with watch theft on the rise around the globe, I’ve decided to finally share with all of you what happened to me and how I was stripped off of seven watches in my collection in what I like to call the worst night of my life. Some of you probably heard about it through Instagram as I shared pictures of the stolen watches with their serial numbers back then. However, the vast majority of you our readers have not heard about this violent crime.
What seemed to be a usual Friday night having dinner with a friend at Al Biernat’s Oak Lawn in Dallas, Texas, turned into a traumatizing violent crime where I was drugged by a woman that not only stole these seven watches but also stole two Elie Bleu humidors full of limited and rare Cuban cigars, a couple leather bags and even an Hermès blanket.
That night, I was wearing my Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ref. 26574ST. Within a few months of wearing it, this watch had turned into my daily wearer and one of the watches I’d be wearing most of the time back then. Here’s the last wristshot that I took that evening before heading to dinner at Al Biernat’s.
Little did I know, that hours later, I would be drugged at my apartment by a woman that I had just met leaving the restaurant that night. And in case you are wondering, no I did not have sex with her and she was not an escort. The drugs found on my system included benzodiazepine and small traces of methadone. Benzodiazepine is often found in Valium and Xanax among other prescription drugs, while methadone is a narcotic analgesic.
As soon as I woke up the next morning after been totally knocked out for at least a good nine hours, I realized that my Royal Oak Perpetual was not on my wrist —I’ve always slept with my watch on— and that’s when I feared the worst.
After looking for some of my other watches, I discovered that a total of seven watches worth $300K USD had been stolen including the one on my wrist. The seven stolen watches are:
Armin Strom Gravity Date WCL Unique Piece 1 of 1
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Two-Tone ref. 5402SA B-series grey dial case No. 273
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15400ST with grey ruthenium dial case J91963
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ref. 26574ST blue dial case I77466 No. 0136
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore ‘The Beast’ ref. 25721ST case D23941 No. 198
HYT H1 Dracula Limited Edition case 41 of 50
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time ref. 7900V with silvered dial case 1387674
Looking back at the circumstances surrounding the theft, I think it had been planned in advance and it was not necessarily just an isolated event. To give you an idea of how experienced this thief was, she even left a container of Clorox wipes sitting on top of the dining table. Most likely she used these to clean every surface she had touched inside my place and wanted to avoid leaving any fingerprints behind. To my luck, she did leave a few fingerprints that were able to be retrieved by the Dallas Police Department crime scene unit.
I honestly consider myself lucky that she didn’t kill me with the drugs or had someone incapacitate me for who knows how long. Lucky to wake up with only an injured nose and the pinky finger on my right hand. Additionally, that morning and the rest of the day I still felt somewhat drugged, and everything felt like a blur or out of a Law & Order episode.
Fortunately, all my watches were properly insured with the right replacement value and all were duly reported to the respective brands in case they show up at their service centers one day. Below are the stolen watches with their respective serial numbers. I have added a few more closeup pictures of some of the case backs as well.
Following the theft and regardless that I have already initiated the insurance claim and an investigation was undergoing, I spent countless hours searching for For Sale listings on Chrono24 and all over the internet trying to locate my watches.
To this date, only the Armin Strom was recovered after finding it for sale on Chrono24. An unscrupulous watch dealer named BlackTag Watches based in Aventura, Florida was the one selling it. The Dallas Police Department contacted the Aventura Police Department who seized the watch. The watch dealer claimed someone had brought it in as a consignment watch after purchasing it off the streets down in Miami. I wish the Aventura Police Department had done a better job a tracing back the provenance of my Armin Strom because that would’ve shed more light on where all the watches were dumped and who was behind it.
Then in April 2020, while continuing to search for the stolen watches online, I came across my beloved Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Two-Tone ref. 5402SA with grey dial case number 273 being offered for sale by another unscrupulous watch dealer by the name Awad Watches in Miami, Florida.
Unfortunately, I could not get this watch back as the insurance company had already paid me for it and it was now their property if recovered by the police. I informed the insurance company of the listing and hopefully it was seized by the police. Who knows if it was recovered or not.
In summary, I learned many lessons from this horrible crime and I’d like to leave you with a few takeaways and reminders:
Don’t be too public on social media, especially on Instagram. Protect your identity by not posting pictures of yourselves publicly or post after you’ve left a restaurant, bar or any other public place. Try posting pictures of yourselves only to your ‘Close Friends’ list or maintain private accounts.
Always insure your watches through reputable companies like Jewelers Mutual or Chubb. Don’t cut any corners or try to save money. Many companies will replace your watches with ‘like quality or like condition.’
Insure your watches for an agreed replacement value that is regularly updated as watch market prices fluctuate.
Do not leave your drinks unattended at any bar or at home when in the company of strangers. My story proves that not only women can get drugged.
Don’t take strangers home no matter what.
Keep at the very least a TL30 Rated Safe at home. It needs to be anchored.
If you can’t have a safe anchored at home, then keep your valuables at a bank safe deposit box.
Always be aware of your surroundings.
Do not buy watches without boxes and papers. The majority of ‘naked’ modern watches are most likely stolen and you are not only engaging in a crime but also supporting the stolen watches black market.
When traveling to cities like Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Madrid, Saint-Tropez, Paris, Mykonos, Athens, Moscow and places in Eastern Europe try to not wear expensive watches in plain sight. Watch theft is at an ultimate high in those cities these days.
If you have any watch or watches stolen, always report them to the police and report the serial numbers with a police report to the service center of the respective brand.
If you come across any of my stolen watches please send me an email at editor@watchcollectinglifestyle.com so that I can contact the Dallas Police Department as well as my insurance company.
