Watches of Switzerland is latest Regent St store to suffer robbery

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 19, 2018

High-end retailer Watches of Switzerland’s Regent Street store was targeted by a gang of moped robbers on Sunday afternoon in the fourth attack on a West End store in the past six months.

The thieves were armed with a samurai sword and sledgehammers, and escaped on mopeds with a number of high-value Rolex watches from the luxury store. The smash and grab happened shortly after 2pm on Sunday.

Regent Street retailers had enjoyed a brief period of calm since the attack on Canada Goose’s flagship store in November, when moped bandits escaped with coats worth thousands of pounds. It was the second raid on a Regent Street store in 24 hours, following an attack on Apple’s flagship store the previous day.

High-end jeweller Mappin & Webb was also stormed by a gang of at least six people armed with machetes and sledgehammers in October.

According to the Standard, Mappin & Webb had hired a unit of ex-special forces soldiers, military and former police officers to protect its Regent Street store alongside Watches of Switzerland and Goldsmiths.

Moped crimes have increased in London over the past few years, with similar raids happening at several different luxury stores in Regent Street and Knightsbridge.

Detectives from the Met's Flying Squad are appealing for information following the robbery of Watches of Switzerland.