Are you scared of being robbed for your watch/ring?

[BrainInAJar]

Hey,

I'm watching "Hunting the Rolex Rippers" on iplayer. Gangs robbing folk in London for their Rolexes. The graphic said a robber would get 4-6k for a Ladydate Just.

Now, before I split with my evil ex-fiance, I wore a Tiffany engagement ring which he paid 8k for. (I would have preferred a hula hoop for a ring and genuine love but that's a different thread) I lived in London at the time and wore it without fear (10 years ago).

Questions which occur to me:

1. Why do robbers focus more on Rolexes than diamonds?
2. Do you avoid wearing expensive jewellery or take precautions?

I have an expensive watch and ring. I have never been mugged. My home had been burgled twice (in 30 years) so statistically for me it was safer for me to be wearing them.

Also, do any of you wear fake Rolexes?! Would serve the robber right if that's all they got!

I think that watches are easier to remove and more visible than a ring. I’m not worried about my fairly pricey ring in my fairly dodgy part of London. But that might be blasé.

Resale on diamonds is very low. Basically they are only worth the gold/platinum they are set with.

I don't wear a watch and good luck to them getting the rings of my chubby sausage fingers.

@CurlsnSunshinetime4tea why is that? That diamonds are crap for resale?

I wear an expensive watch daily. I have a very expensive ring as well. It has never occurred to me that I could get mugged. However, recently a stranger commented on my ring saying it was stunning and asking if it was real. I said it was and he said he knew it was as he used to be a jeweler. He then asked "don't you worry about being attacked wearing that?"
I hadn't worried before but I realised he may have a point. I rarely wear the ring anyway as it's got a high setting so is impractical. I wear the watch daily though and won't be stopping.
Strangely, I often check around me when using my phone in public.

Yes, my ring was very sparkly and its value was out of keeping with my otherwise Primark level stuff so I suspect folk thought it was fake.

I used to live in an exceptionally wealthy area in N Lon and people were being endlessly doorstep robbed for their watches and jewellery as soon as they went from their car to their front door. Also their vehicles were being taken all the time, something to do with remote controls. Sometimes multiple vehicles of the same brand were taken in one night.

The houses were big, detached, and people had their own driveways and house frontages so I guess the thieves felt quite unlikely to be noticed.

I was always surprised at the value of jewellery being mentioned such as necklace worth £35k or a watch worth £80k and it did make me wonder what's the point of walking round wearing that value of items but I suppose these people weren't 'walking around' they were going in their vehicles from A to B, door to door, thinking they were in secure environments.

Personally I do not feel worried as I wouldn't dream of wearing high value accessories, my watch cost £200 and it's great but no-one would want to steal it.

My best friend used to live in NYC in the 80s and he told me it was taken for granted you don't wear anything flashy or carry anything expensive. I feel the same.

Yeah you do wonder what is the actual point of having these expensive items anymore! I'd hate to be worried wearing it was making me a target but it would annoy me if I wasn't "getting the wear" out of it and it was sitting in my jewellery box. (Albeit interesting what a pp says about it being safer to wear than leave at home and lose it in a burglary)

Aye, my watch was also about £200, reduced to £150 iirc about a year ago, from Fossil, in their sale. It's automatic, just like a rolex, needs no winding or battery!

Don't wear a watch. Most people have the time on their phones today.

Constantly worried, but I also have regular nightmares that the stones fall out of it. I don't think I'm made for nice things!

I don’t wear a watch but I do wear a very expensive engagement ring. I don’t worry about being mugged for it. I worry about the huge sapphire and diamonds falling out. It’s insured but I still worry.

When I lived in London (10
years ago) I/friends would turn our engagement rings round so you could only see the band on the tube. But when I’m in London now I don’t bother but I care less about “stuff” now. It’s all replaceable.

I agree stuff is replaceable but it's the idea of being bashed around and hurt that would affect me the most.

My travel insurance won't cover my watch or bags for the UK, everywhere else I go including South Africa but not UK. Apparently its to do with the fact that crime is not routinely investigated meaning there is zero chance of the insurance company getting their money back. You just get a crime number.

My dnephew is into his expensive watches.
He told me that to get a brand new Rolex can take 18months + on a waiting list & you can sell a 2nd hand Rolex for more than the retail price, he's got a few and is on the waiting list for another (more money than sense 😁)
If Rolex find out that you're selling your watches on they blacklist you.
That's probably why robbers go for a Rolex

I think this is becoming way more of a thing due to the increasing rich/poor divide in the UK.

Rolex watches are considered "desirable" for muggers etc because there is such a very long waiting list to buy them legally. Look in a jeweller's window in any large European city and next to the Rolex watches it will say "for display purposes only". That thus pushes up the value and marketability of existing watches.
I think sometimes it does give peace of mind not to wear valuables in certain places/at certain times. I can't imagine not wearing a watch of some kind - a phone is just not the same, and I also wouldn't want to take my phone out on the street either (but that's mainly because I'm clumsy!).

There is a lesson in this. Watches tell the time. Bags are for carting stuff around in. Value is artificially created.

Certain watches are in demand both here and abroad so it's quick easy money with little chance of getting caught. Similarly there is an epidemic of Range Rover thefts particularly in London. These too are in demand both as cars and spare parts. Once again, quick easy money. It's people who appear to have who are targeted not me.

I have no expensive jewellery and wouldn't want any, because the thought of wearing £1000s on my person makes me nervous. Even setting theft aside, what if I lost it? I feel similarly about cars too - have never owned a car anyone would particularly want to steal, and I wouldn't want to.

This is so true, losing things is absolutely gutting - another reason not to have too many expensive items

I wear a Rolex almost every day, stainless steel, not gold. My everyday dress style is jeans and tshirt + long sleeve shirt so it doesn't make me look too obvious I hope.
If I'm going into central London I generally swap the Rolex for a Seiko, otherwise I'm fairly relaxed.
I've only once been asked if it was real, I said my sister brought it from Turkey for me.
The TV programme was fairly comprehensively trashed by watch youtubers last week as sensationalised & inaccurate. Watch crime does exist but being careful can go a long way to mitigating the risk.

I had a colleague who was mugged for his Rolex by a kid with a knife who had followed him home from the pub in West London. Scary stuff.

I’m more worried about my phone (having had it snatched once already last year) so that is always zipped away.

I will watch the show! Looks interesting.