The "RM 51-02" of the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer Richard Mille is a rather expensive pleasure. This is not least because of the diamonds with which it is occupied in its interior. The list price of the "Tourbillon Diamond Twister" is according to a report of the French TV station BFMTV at 768,000 euros.
And that's exactly what a 30-year-old Japanese businessman seems to have been poorer since Monday night. Raiders stole his luxury watch, according to the report.
The man had entered the door of five-star Napoléon Hotel on Avenue de Friedland in the Eighth Arrondissement. The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysées are nearby. A man in front of the house asked him for a cigarette - and then stole his watch. Then the thief ran away with his prey. On the run, however, he has lost his cellphone, which the police hopes for evidence of the perpetrator.
Whole series of thefts - with a variety of tricks
Because of the value of the clock, a special unit of investigators deals with the case that has to do with organized crime, the broadcaster said. On the black market robbed luxury jewelry pieces are about half the price to strike again, it said in the police.
The thieves had developed a whole series of tricks to get their prey: The questions about a cigarette, including the desire for a supposed selfie. Motorists in turn would have to struggle with someone bumping into their exterior mirrors. If they try to fix it, they will lose their watch.
Between January and September alone, thieves stole at least 71 luxury watches in Paris and its suburbs, reports the newspaper Le Parisien. Thus, the number of such offenses has increased by more than a quarter compared to the previous year. On one single day alone, August 29, the perpetrators had struck four times.