Tracking and building databases of stolen watches is becoming a competitive business.
The Watch Register was created in 2014, and now claims to be the world’s largest international database of lost and stolen watches.
Two years’ ago, Richemont introduced Enquirius as part of its attempt to tackle the global problem of theft and resale of stolen watches and jewellery.
The service encourages watch owners and the trade to register, declare and search for lost and stolen items, “Allowing anyone involved in buying, selling and collecting pre-owned items to confirm their lost or stolen status while assisting law enforcement agencies to collaborate across borders”.
Newer still is Digital Watch Vault, a service backed by secondary market specialists, that aims to grow organically into “the world’s largest community driven lost, stolen and counterfeit watch database”.
Working with law enforcement is important to all these solutions to the problem of rising instances of often violent watch thefts.
The Watch Register is ahead of the game in this regard, and has just been certified in the UK for the Secured by Design Police Preferred Specification, an initiative by the British police designed to reduce domestic and cross-border crime.
Katya Hills, managing director of The Watch Register explains: “ We see Secured by Design as a significant enhancement to our database and the service we provide to the watch trade globally who search our database prior to transaction to check if a watch is stolen. We believe the increased sharing of police data that it brings will also lead to us recovering even more stolen watches, as well as jewellery, art and antiques, for owners who may have given up on ever seeing the return of their property.”
Lyn Poole of Secured by Design adds: “I have known about The Art Loss Register for many years going back to when I was a young uniformed police officer back in the 1990s. So when I was approached by The Watch Register and found them to be connected I was thrilled to work with them to achieve SBD membership and bring not only The Watch Register but also The Art Loss Register on so they can now both use the Secured by Design Police Preferred Specification accreditation. It’s great to have them on board, I’m looking forward to working with them over the coming years”.
