New platform aims to foil luxury watch thieves

Everyone in South Africa knows of a story — or, more terrifyingly, has their own story — about something valuable being stolen. 

From the Rolex gang targeting watch-wearers in malls to break-ins during the night when every ring and necklace is cleared out — what’s life in South Africa without news about a theft or two?

There is, then, some Schadenfreude in knowing that watch and jewellery theft isn’t just a favourite local pastime.

In April, the UK’s Evening Standard said more than 6,000 luxury timepieces were reported stolen to London’s metropolitan police, often in violent incidents. And in the US, luxury media brand Robb Report said the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department reported a 30% surge in watch robberies in 2022.

Patently, the market for stolen watches is lucrative everywhere.

It’s also the backdrop against which Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods company founded by Johann Rupert, recently launched Enquirus — an online platform designed to track the movement of luxury watches. Think of the Kimberley Process for diamonds, but for watches. 

As Richemont’s Frank Vivier tells the FM: “The initiative gathered steam when it became clear that this type of crime is becoming a concerning worldwide trend. The conclusion was that we needed to do something, not just for Richemont and our clients, but also for the industry.”

It’s an ultra-secure digital platform where watch and jewellery information can be uploaded, searched and shared by multiple parties, without divulging customers’ identities. All the data stored on the platform is solely used to facilitate the identification of lost and stolen items, and is designed to make the purchase and resale of such pieces more difficult.

Critically, Enquirus is open to all luxury watch marques — not just those owned by Richemont such as Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai. Already, there are more than 190 watch brands registered on the system.

Watch owners create an account for free, register their collection using brand and serial numbers and upload any supporting documents they have.

If any of the items are ever stolen or lost, they report that on the platform. Law enforcement agencies, insurers and members of the secondary market (such as auction houses) who’ve signed up can access these details. Obviously, this helps recover missing goods — but through the search function, customers considering buying a pre-owned item can also check the database to ensure it’s not stolen.

“The idea was, if you act with speed and you can register a theft or loss on a database that is instantaneously accessed by police, by insurance companies, and it becomes habitual … then you remove a large part of the incentive for criminals,” says Vivier.

He adds that Richemont won’t hand over client details to law enforcement agencies and, equally, customers don’t need to put personal details such as their cellphone number into the system either.

Interestingly, “more than a third of the pieces registered on Enquirus are jewellery”, says Vivier.

Pieces by Richemont brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels come with serial numbers, so they are easy to register. Other jewellery less so, as the manufacturer hallmarks traditionally used for identification are inadequate for tracing stolen goods.