Police in San Diego, California, are searching for a man who snatched a $50,000 Rolex after a meeting arranged through global secondary market platform Chrono24.
Fox News reports that the robbery took place after a man who had posted a listing on Chrono24 found a customer interested in buying his vintage Rolex, which was advertised for $49,000 on the website.
The two men organised a meeting at a jeweller in a shopping centre in San Diego so that they could get the timepiece checked and authenticated by a professional valuer.
When the watch was handed over for inspection by its owner, the man he had agreed to meet grabbed it and ran.
An immediate search for the thief by San Diego police did not find the man, but the jeweller had CCTV footage, which has been passed to the police.
They have issued advice that anybody selling a watch in this way, and arranging to meet a customer, should ask for identification before producing any valuable watches. Meetings should always take place in safe public areas.
