It was the night of the auspicious launch of a range of the world's most exclusive watches. Hours after the millionaire guests finished sipping champagne and eating canapes, a team of professional thieves relieved one of London's most stylish jewelers of all its stock.
In a heist worthy of the Pink Panther films, the burglars en-tered The Watch Gallery in London's fashionable Chelsea, opened the combination safe, and took an estimated ?3 million (US$5.5 million) in designer watches, leaving in their wake little evidence of how they breached the security and alarm systems.
Embarrassingly for the owners of the fashionable store, the theft took place on the night they launched an exhibition of Lange and Sohne watches, collectors' items that are among the world's most coveted treasures.
The party was to celebrate the store becoming one of only four outlets in Britain for the handmade platinum and gold watches which sell for ?6,000 to ?100,000 each.
Around 90 Lange and Sohne watches were taken, as well as virtually all of the shop's other stock, including Cartier, Breitling and Jaeger pieces.
It is understood a small camera was discovered inside the store which could have been used by the gang to check that the gallery was empty before they made their move.
"It was a very professional job," said Neil Duckworth, the owner of The Watch Gallery. "We had just had an event where we invited guests to view our new collection of Lange and Sohne watches. And after we closed the shop someone revisited us.
"I don't know whether they had hidden inside when we locked up, or whether they had some other means of access. They knew how to get into the safe, and cleaned us out; we have almost nothing left now."
Duckworth said he just started selling the items, and the guests, all carefully picked potential buyers, were a select group.
"Lange and Sohne are a very discreet brand, they only make a few thousand watches a year in the world. We are new stockists of the watches and the customers we invited were people that we knew well, they are certainly not just general members of the public," he said.
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