The Breitling Watch Source Forums

About 3 years ago, in November, just before Christmas business, I had a big burglary, where mainly watches from Breitling, Omega, Tag Heuer and Chopard have been stolen. They also robbed other stores in the Vienna area. The responsible burglars have been caught 4 month later, and are in prison at the moment (A group of serbian origin). Their loot has never been found.

Today, I received a call from a detective from Salzburg (a town about 300km west of Vienna, near the german border), where they have arrested a guy for another offence, checked the watches serial number, and found out, that it was a Seawolf, from the robbery in my store. The guy claimed it was a fake, but I could simply verify via phone, that it was the real piece. Now I wonder, what will happen....
Will I get the watch back? What will the condition of the watch be?
Where has that man bought the watch, and for what price?

So many questions...
I will keep You updated as soon as I get any news.
I never expected any of the stolen pieces to show up in Austria.

BG
Thomas

My guess is that you received money from your insurance when it happened (at least I really hope you were insured). Then, if the goods turn up, they are now the insurance company's property (because they "paid" you for it). Optional, you can claim it and then re-pay the insurance money to the company.

That's how it normally works.

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Collection: http://s540.photobucket.com/albums/gg32 ... mview=grid

That's exactly how it works.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Ok, I got about 80% of the damage refunded by the insurance.

Will I now get 20% of the watch?

BG
Thomas

You 'should' be able to negotiate a reasonable price with the insurance company to buy the watch back significantly less than the market value...worth a try

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John

Current:- Navi World, Coral SO, Panerai 219, Sea Dweller, Suunto Core etc

CORAL CLUB FOUNDING FATHER

Looks like your insurance inspector just got himself a new Breitling!

I would definitely get in touch with your insurers and enquire if they are open to offers. Otherwise, I assume they will go to auction where they would be taking a chance on what they get. Worth a try.

If they say no, find out where the auction is and bid on the day.

Unless my logic is wrong (and there's a strong possibility of that!), so long as you get the watches back for less than 80% of what you originally paid, you're ahead. I realise you'll be bidding against final consumers who will be discounting against retail rather than your wholesale price but with a bit of luck, you may still be able to come out of this ahead.

Hope it works out for you.

That's kinda funny.. I wonder if that guy had something to do with the initial robbery of if he was just one of the guys that bought the goods from them. I wonder where all the other watches are.. did they steal any of the boxes?

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

He probably was not directly involved, as they caught all suspects already a few month after the burglary.

Its even questionable, if they can seize the watch, if the man can produce evidence, like an invoice, that he officially bought the watch.

BG
Thomas

Congrats to the Austrian Police for the bust. Besides the insurance company you may have to wait until the prosecutor no longer needs the watch as evidence. I love it when the nab the bad guys

I would think it would be returned to the person that owned the piece. The police recognized you as the rightful owner.

~Brian

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Breitling Super Avenger
Fortis Flieger Chronograph
Rolex Submariner Date

Yes, but as the insurance company have "bought" the watch by paying you (or Thomas in this case), they are the owner.

And when they pay 80% of the value, that only means you "sold" it for that price. No chance to claim the remaining 20%. Only action to get any % of the watch would be to repay the 80% and then get the whole watch. Mind you, it will probably not be BNIB-condition any longer.

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Collection: http://s540.photobucket.com/albums/gg32 ... mview=grid