Break-in at the Geneva Watch Museum

Sunday 24th November, around 5.26 pm, the Geneva Watch Museum (left) alarms started ringing as the doors were broken in by a battering ram-like engine. The police came immediately but to no avail, as the gangsters drove away. Seemingly four to five men were involved in the break-in, stealing away more than 230 watches and jewellery items worth millions of Swiss francs. In the lot are XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX century watches, automatons, miniatures, enamels by Jean-Etienne Liotard as well as the watches on display for the 2002 edition of the “Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève” (see our report). Out of 50 Grand Prix watches on the showcases, only 4 were not taken away.

In August 2002 the Museum was already broken in and about 40 watches worth 2 million Swiss francs were stolen. Some of them however are now reported found. Presently the police is looking for the thieves and the stolen lot, asking witnesses, if any, to announce themselves to the authorities.

November 2002