How We Both Got Our Watches Stolen: Part 1

Discussing stolen watches, Rolex dials, Rolls Royce & more.

June 23, 2021

Today, Christian and Michael tackle some of the hottest horological topics!

We begin with a woman in the UK who was stealing the watches right off of people’s wrists. It was an interesting enough trick when it isn’t your watch, but obviously is less than entertaining when it is. The woman only did this twice before she got caught, but the fact that even one person fell for this makes you wonder if we’re really as aware of ourselves as we think.

Then we move onto something completely different – Rolls Royce. The brand just released a car that retails for $37 million, and it’s absolutely wild. It’s so exclusive that you’re more likely to see new owners Jay-Z and Beyonce driving theirs in photos than you ever are to see one in the metal. And the dashboard clock is provided by, of all brands, Bovet, who do some incredible artistic watches and somehow feel right at home in a car that’s more art than automobile.

From there, we head into the stash of unreleased Rolex dials from Singer, a dial manufacturer who has produced dials for (obviously) Rolex and a ton of other brands. This is a hotly debated topic at the moment, in large part because the debate centers around whether or not these dials are even real. The folks who believe them to be genuine are saying a few things, namely “the material and printing look correct.” However, there are plenty of people who manufacture after market dials with such precision and quality, that it can almost be impossible to know the difference if you’re not looking at the right things. It’s a mystery right now what’s going to happen with these dials, but it’s going to be an interesting saga to follow.

And finally, we discuss Michael’s story of his first Rolex that was stolen. It was a 34mm piece and generally hard to miss given its green dial and leaf hands. When he finally decided to sell the watch, the buyer immediately filed a PayPal claim and took his money back, never returning the watch. A while later, Michael finds the owner of a brand he’s super into posting about his new watch…AKA, Michael’s old watch. He blows up his comments section, and one day the watch just returns to Michael in the mail without another word said about it.