News Raiders Target Breitling Boutique in Basel, Escaping with 2 Bags Filled with Watches

In a recent Instagram post by Breitling CEO Georges Kern, he displayed the aftermath of the break-in at the Breitling Boutique in Basel, Switzerland. This incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning (26/3/2024), where thieves boldly rammed into the boutique and made off with a significant number of watches. 

Georges Kern stated in his post that the Criminals robbed the boutique in Basel this morning at approximately 04.30 by crashing their car into the window. Luckily there were witnesses who filmed the incident. According to reports, a silver BMW crashed into the boutique around 4:30 am (Basel time). Subsequently, two individuals came out of the vehicle and swiftly reentered it within minutes, carrying two bags that seemed to contain a considerable number of Breitling watches. 

Witnesses captured the incident in a video, just a short walk from the Swatch Boutique. One person who saw it all go down shared their story on the Swiss news site 20min.ch, along with a video showing the guys jumping back into the car after crashing through the storefront. Although Switzerland is generally considered a safe country regarding theft, it is not completely immune to such crimes, as is the case anywhere in the world. In recent years, there have been several incidents of robberies at boutiques, like what we saw last year when armed robbers fled with €15 million worth of jewelry from a Piaget store in Paris.

This incident has stirred discussions within the online watch community regarding the safety of wearing luxury timepieces during the upcoming Watches & Wonders 2024, the world's largest watch trade show taking place in Geneva from April 9th to 15th. We extend our wishes for Breitling and the boutique staff all safely. As of now, the Basel Police have yet to apprehend the suspects or retrieve the stolen items.