Armed robbers stormed a Rolex luxury watch store in central Athens on Tuesday morning and made off with over a dozen highly valuable timepieces.
The robbery took place at approximately 10.55 a.m., at a Rolex store on Kolokotroni Street, off Stadiou Street.
Initial reports say three masked persons entered the store at gunpoint and made off with a large number of highly valuable watches.
The robbers reportedly injured a security guard in the store. The perpetrators are understood to have fled the shop on two motorcycles.
A hammer was found at the scene. Police in Athens has launched a manhunt for the robbers.
Athens store is an official Rolex retailer
The store is recognized as an official Rolex retailer.
Rolex is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland.
On October 26, 2017, a Rolex Daytona (Ref. 6239) wristwatch, manufactured in 1968, was sold by Phillips in its New York auction for US$17.75 million.
Each Rolex comes with a unique serial number, which can help indicate its approximate production period. Serial numbers were first introduced in 1926 and were issued sequentially, until 1954, when Rolex restarted from #999,999 to #0.
In 1987, there was an addition of one letter to a 6-digit serial number and in 2010, to the present date Rolex introduced random serial numbers.
Rolex watches are frequently counterfeited and often illegally sold on the street and online.
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