Rolex 14060 (serial K881834) STOLEN from my 73 year old father's wrist

[Cross eyed fly]

I’m really pleased for you & your Dad. Nice to read a post like this that ends with the good guys winning.

[Will866]

I’m confused about:

“ The person who bought it received a replacement watch from the shop in Geneva (hopefully not stolen this time) and is no longer interested in this one”


Why did the shop do this? They are the ones taking the loss in the end?

[Jackie Daytona]

Glad to hear there was a fairly positive resolution to all of this.

[Fuselierpa]

Originally Posted by Will866

I’m confused about:

“ The person who bought it received a replacement watch from the shop in Geneva (hopefully not stolen this time) and is no longer interested in this one”


Why did the shop do this? They are the ones taking the loss in the end?

Insurance, certainly. Plus protecting their reputation - don’t want to be known for trafficking in stolen goods.

[Will866]

There is no insurance that covers if someone brings you something stolen. Why would shop take a hit to reputation? They didn’t do anything wrong.

[1st amg]

That is fabulous....amazing

[Star Ferry]

Originally Posted by Will866

There is no insurance that covers if someone brings you something stolen. Why would shop take a hit to reputation? They didn’t do anything wrong.

Would you want to buy from a shop that accidentally sells stolen watches and then tells the customer to go pound sand? The customer had been promised a genuine Rolex and the shop honored its promise.

[Driver8]

Great to hear a positive outcome to one of these awful theft stories. Great news!

[2bigalow]

Fantastic news! Horrible situation to start with, but your dad has one hell of a story to tell when discussing his watch.

[garyk]

Really fantastic news. So great your dad was not seriously injured and ultimately got his watch back. Hearing your story and all the layers leading to a retrieval was really good for us. Sad there has to be a situation where the watch comes in for service and it isn’t automatically returned to its rightful owner but I do see how they need a judge to decide. All the best to you and your Dad…

[Watch-Ed]

Originally Posted by 77T

First, a big congrats on the fortunate recovery. That was why I had said to reach out locally and to Geneva back when the theft first happened. You just never know how a stolen watch travels or where it will turn up.

For the point I quoted above - my letter in USA said the following because my Platona was recovered in the UK:
“Please note that our affiliate can only hold the Watch for a limited time, and if you fail to take action, the Watch may be released and the Watch’s serial number may be removed from Rolex’s missing watch database.”

There is a reason for that statement - Rolex never knows if the original owner who reported the theft is still the rightful owner. For example, an insurance company could have paid out a claim.

Yours seems to have said differently?

Could you quote the wording from your letter for the benefit of other readers who are hoping to recover their stolen Rolex?

In my opinion the policy works great. Rolex doesn’t need to do this but it certainly helps victims get their property back. Thieves don’t care about Rolex policy vs. Patek policy vs. Omega policy - they are fairly ignorant of what you and I had to go through with our separate thefts and subsequent recoveries.

The legit dealers care but have no access to Rolex database. Even if they did, they don’t have the power to seize a watch.

In closing, I am so glad to hear of your good outcome - I hope you have a chance to show everyone the watch after you pick it up.


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From what I understood the Rolex policy differs from country to country because they have to comply with local laws, in this case the Swiss law doesn't allow them to confiscate the watch and they have to inform the person who brings it that it is stolen. I got the watch back with a small label saying "Service refusé par Rolex".

Here is what the e-mail said exactly:

"Par la présente nous vous informons que la montre Rolex portant le numéro de série K881834 a été retrouvée en Suisse au service après-vente du siège Rolex à Genève.

Pour information, la législation suisse n’autorise pas à faire bloquer cette montre et Rolex s.a. sera obligé de la restituer à son actuel détenteur si celui-ci l’exige. Nous vous invitons par conséquent à agir rapidement.

Nous vous suggérons de prendre contact avec votre avocat ou avec les services policiers avec lesquels vous avez traité ce dossier, afin de faire une demande internationale (Interpol) et d’entreprendre les démarches nécessaires pour essayer de récupérer votre montre.

En restant à votre disposition pour toute question, je vous remercie par avance et vous souhaite une excellente journée."


Translating to:

"We hereby inform you that the Rolex watch bearing the serial number K881834 was found in Switzerland at the after-sales service of the Rolex headquarters in Geneva.

For information, Swiss law does not allow this watch to be blocked and Rolex s.a. will be obliged to return it to its current holder if the latter so requires. We therefore urge you to act quickly.

We suggest that you contact your lawyer or the police services with which you have handled this file, in order to make an international request (Interpol) and take the necessary steps to try to recover your watch.

Remaining at your disposal for any questions, I thank you in advance and wish you an excellent day."

Originally Posted by Will866

I’m confused about:

“ The person who bought it received a replacement watch from the shop in Geneva (hopefully not stolen this time) and is no longer interested in this one”

Why did the shop do this? They are the ones taking the loss in the end?

I believe it is the responsibility of the shop to ensure they do not sell stolen goods and I am glad they did the right thing and gave a replacement watch to the person who bought it in good faith.

[Watch-Ed]

Originally Posted by garyk

Really fantastic news. So great your dad was not seriously injured and ultimately got his watch back. Hearing your story and all the layers leading to a retrieval was really good for us. Sad there has to be a situation where the watch comes in for service and it isn’t automatically returned to its rightful owner but I do see how they need a judge to decide. All the best to you and your Dad…

Originally Posted by 2bigalow

Fantastic news! Horrible situation to start with, but your dad has one hell of a story to tell when discussing his watch.

Originally Posted by Driver8

Great to hear a positive outcome to one of these awful theft stories. Great news!

Originally Posted by Star Ferry

Would you want to buy from a shop that accidentally sells stolen watches and then tells the customer to go pound sand? The customer had been promised a genuine Rolex and the shop honored its promise.

Originally Posted by 1st amg

That is fabulous....amazing

Originally Posted by Dontknow

Glad to hear there was a fairly positive resolution to all of this.

Originally Posted by Cross eyed fly

I’m really pleased for you & your Dad. Nice to read a post like this that ends with the good guys winning.

Thank you everyone for all the support and kind words, a bit less than 20 months after it was stolen, we finally have the watch back :)

It has been polished and mistreated a bit so it will need to go off for service (the irony) but it now has a pretty cool story with an unexpected happy ending.

[brandrea]

Fantastic that you managed to get it back. Truly happy for you

[tifosi]

Wow! This is fantastic news!

[RichM]

Good news for sure. Thanks for the update.

[Overwatch]

What a story, i'm sure that will be your watch one day and one you will treasure and pass down as well. Blessings to you and your family.

[yankeeromeo]

So sad, please wish your father well.

Glad he is OK.

I'm so shocked as I felt so safe when in Brussels

[yankeeromeo]

Just realised this was an old story. Greet outcome

[MJZRolex]

Originally Posted by watchtabs

Man… these lowlifes… there needs to be harsher consequences..

Anyways… I’m sorry your father went through that. I doubt you’ll recover the watch, sadly… but make sure to file it with Rolex (I don’t know how either).

Because at some point it will be sent to service by the next owner (cause they’ll find a victim to sell it to).

This is exactly why I NEVER buy a watch without papers or matching parts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I totally agree. I'm glad your father is okay and I wish the worst for the thief.

[BDII]

What a great end to the saga. A family heirloom with a story to pass down as well. One day his great grand kids will tell this story :)

[Carguy87]

So glad it’s back where it belongs!!!

[ndane]

Man, this sucks. Glad you’re dad is okay.

[justin81]

Very sorry to hear this and I’m glad he’s okay

[mountainjogger]

Originally Posted by Will866

There is no insurance that covers if someone brings you something stolen. Why would shop take a hit to reputation? They didn’t do anything wrong.

Seller may not have done something morally wrong or intentionally wrong, but they may have still done something legally wrong.

Have no idea what the law is where this occurred, but in most US jurisdictions, every sale contains the implied warranty of title, meaning that the seller warrants that they have clean title and the item is theirs to sell.

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/b...ng/warranties/

If a seller sells a stolen item, they have breached the implied warranty of title and must make good on the loss to the person they sold something they did not have the right to sell.

[B2 Stealth]

Terrible to read this story. Glad your father is alright.

[Beep Beep]

Really happy to read a story with happy ending.

[vintagewaferthin]

So glad your father is ok and very cool that the watch made it back into his possession.

[Chewbacca]

So sorry to hear this. Glad everyone’s healthy. The scum that did this must pay!

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by Watch-Ed

Thank you everyone for all the support and kind words, a bit less than 20 months after it was stolen, we finally have the watch back :)

It has been polished and mistreated a bit so it will need to go off for service (the irony) but it now has a pretty cool story with an unexpected happy ending.

Congrats on the recovery!


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[Geckobros]

What a ride, glad it turned out good in the end.