Help About 2 Stolen Vintage Rolexes

[77T]

Some here in the Vintage Section may have seen my recent post about recovering one of my watches stolen in a home burglary back in 2017…

https://www.rolexforums.com/showpost...&postcount=460

The reason for posting here today is because the final two missing watches are still circulating. They are on the Rolex stolen watch list and FBI NCIC. But I don’t think any good faith buyer would take a vintage model to the RSC.

So hoping to alert the vintage watchmakers of the watches I’m still trying to recover. See the photo below.


The more detailed odyssey is in the first page of posts in that link. But sharing a summary here to save anyone an hour of reading.

• December 2017 home burglary.
• By January 2018 perps caught.
• One watch recovered.
• Convictions & Sentencing followed.
• Platinum Daytona recovered.

So that’s the outline of the last 4 years.

I’m hoping if anyone sees these last 2 watches on their bench, they might contact the police. Or maybe for sale somewhere.

• Ladies TT OP Diamond dial & bezel s/n K302125
• Men’s YG DD Wide Boy dial & fluted bezel on strap s/n 2600527

Thanks in advance. BTW, there was no insurance claim on these - like the Platona, I managed the risk alone.


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[subtona]

Didn’t realize it was 4 years ago. Amazing to have recovered any of your property. Small miracles.

[baumare]

Glad the big one came back home!
Hopefully the rest will follow

[swaini3]

Congrats.... Hopefully the other 2 will.

[Bill2]

Awesome news glad to hear two recovered and two to go, hopefully in the coming days something or someone will have a lead. My prayers are with you and yours.

[Jmbarrack]

Wow. Best of luck to you.

How did they recover the Daytona?

[77T]

Originally Posted by Bill2

Awesome news glad to hear two recovered and two to go, hopefully in the coming days something or someone will have a lead. My prayers are with you and yours.

Originally Posted by swaini3

Congrats.... Hopefully the other 2 will.

Originally Posted by baumare

Glad the big one came back home!

Hopefully the rest will follow

Originally Posted by subtona

Didn’t realize it was 4 years ago. Amazing to have recovered any of your property. Small miracles.

Thank you guys and I’m resolved to keep trying for these last 2 Vintage pieces. Appreciate your sentiments.

My dear departed wife’s OP was cherished by our daughter and grand-daughters. We hadn’t finished her estate (she passed in May; burglary was Dec. 1st) everything was still just as she left it that sad day.

So was easy pickings for burglar. As an OP with that dial it’s nice enough that one day it may have an owner who takes it to RSC or a trusted vintage watchmaker here.

That’s why I began this thread to focus just on the DD & OP I’m hoping to recover next.


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[77T]

Originally Posted by Jmbarrack

Wow. Best of luck to you.

How did they recover the Daytona?

Thanks very much.

In order to focus on the Vintage pieces, I didn’t go into detail about the Daytona here.

But the full story is at that link I pasted into the first post on this thread. Someone told us it took 90 minutes to go through the whole story since 2017 when the saga started. The post with the Daytona update is #460.

So better to leave that longer story there.


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[TimeLord2]

Very happy to hear that miracles do happen and you have gotten back two at least. I have high hopes for the successful recovery of the other two, especially given the circumstances… I do hope this unfortunate event has a happy ending. Good luck to you Paul!

[77T]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2

Very happy to hear that miracles do happen and you have gotten back two at least. I have high hopes for the successful recovery of the other two, especially given the circumstances… I do hope this unfortunate event has a happy ending. Good luck to you Paul!

Thanks - I will also post on VRF to be on the lookout.

My 1803 is definitely Vintage and most likely won’t see an RSC counter. So perhaps it’ll hit an honest, trusted watchmaker who specializes in vintage watches.

My wife’s watch was from 2001 - not a true vintage Rolex. But it’s now 20 years old and one day it may get submitted.


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[77T]

Bumping up a 6 month old thread to help put it in front of any new eyes.

I’m hoping if anyone sees either of these 2 watches on their bench, they might contact the police. Or maybe someone has seen one of them for sale somewhere.

• Ladies TT OP Diamond dial & bezel s/n K302125
• Men’s YG DD Wide Boy dial & fluted bezel on strap s/n 2600527
- - note that the hands are mismatched for a Wide Boy DD (not done by me but was the way I bought it from a trusted dealer here)


Thanks in advance.

Yes, an old story but not giving up…

And even if nobody has seen them, the posts here on TRF help boost results in Google search results. That aided me with my Platona recovery when a dealer Googled the serial number and realized he had bought it.




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[Kryss]

I’m semi local to you op (I’m in Marietta). I’ve been going to local places on a search for vintage pieces so I’ll keep my eye out. New to the forum so now just seeing this.

[77T]

Thanks -

From the evidence, the stolen Rolexes were quickly sent to NYC 4 years ago so unlikely any would be still local. But a Wide Boy with mismatched hands may pop up on eBay. I still have a long-standing new listing search there to help me catch it if it shows up.

But every pair of eyes helps.


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[Kryss]

Originally Posted by 77T

Thanks -

From the evidence, the stolen Rolexes were quickly sent to NYC 4 years ago so unlikely any would be still local. But a Wide Boy with mismatched hands may pop up on eBay. I still have a long-standing new listing search there to help me catch it if it shows up.

But every pair of eyes helps.


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Ahh I see, well I have a buddy in nyc who used to work for watches of Switzerland. I can have him keep an eye out as well.

[Kryss]

Originally Posted by 77T

Thanks -

From the evidence, the stolen Rolexes were quickly sent to NYC 4 years ago so unlikely any would be still local. But a Wide Boy with mismatched hands may pop up on eBay. I still have a long-standing new listing search there to help me catch it if it shows up.

But every pair of eyes helps.


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Ahh I see, well I have a buddy in nyc who used to work for watches of Switzerland. I can have him keep an eye out as well.

[TuRo]

I have passed details to all the watchmakers I know here in UK too.
Presume both watches are registered as stolen with thewatchregister.com in London, their database works pal of mine got his back after 6 yrs, when the Crim' tried to sell it on at Watchfinder - though shame Rolex abandoned their central database.

[77T]

Originally Posted by pauldavidthorpe

I have passed details to all the watchmakers I know here in UK too.
Presume both watches are registered as stolen with thewatchregister.com in London, their database works pal of mine got his back after 6 yrs, when the Crim' tried to sell it on at Watchfinder - though shame Rolex abandoned their central database.

Thanks for your help.

As far as I know Rolex continues with their networked theft databases. That is how the most recent recovery worked. Did you see a recent change to that policy?

I had the watches in Rolex’s USA database and in 2020-21 they began networking the databases. So Rolex UK did know my Platona had been stolen in USA.


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[TuRo]

Bit more research has unearthed perhaps it's only in the UK - Apparently, it was discontinued when Rolex moved Service Centre from Bexley to West Malling in 2016. Worth putting on the watch register perhaps @ £15 per watch though, as lot of US watches circulate in UK nowadays - good luck with locating them both

[77T]

Paul, my 2021 recovery was engineered by RolexUK. I believe the information you have been given is not accurate.

I just spoke to them at Kings Hill and they assured me the theft list is still active globally.


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[TuRo]

Thank you, I stand corrected. (Ironically it was my namesake who propagated that theory ) - Good to know too

[77T]

Hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season.

This is just a bump in the spirit of keeping Google’s web indexer algorithms warmed-up.

I still have hopes that the 2 vintage Rolexes will turn up at one place or another; that is, the RSC or a vintage watchmaker’s bench somewhere.

• Ladies TT OP Diamond dial & bezel s/n K302125
• Men’s YG DD Wide Boy dial & fluted bezel on strap s/n 2600527
- - note that the hands are mismatched for a Wide Boy DD (not done by me but was the way I bought it from a trusted dealer here)




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[TuRo]

Hope they find a safe path home to you in time, esp your wife's - HNY P.

[77T]

Thanks for your sentiment.

I've had a couple of close calls on the DD which came up on eBay but they weren't mine.

Nothing so far on my dearly departed wife's Oyster Perpetual. It was the first Rolex I gave her and would like to recover it for our daughter to cherish.

My best chances now are seizure at an RSC.


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