My White Gold Rolex Daytona Stolen

[Gaijin]

I wish I could now show you a cute picture of my Niece's new baby holding on to my WG Daytona, as a joke as to how it was stolen, but I can't. It really was stolen from me here in early January.

I have hesitated to post it here out of frustration, pain, humiliation and just hoping for too long that it was all a bad dream.

Details as follows.

White Gold Daytona with Serial number D995***. Black racing dial. See pic below.

While coming down a flight of stairs I lost my balance and fell. When I did I put my left arm out to break my fall. It was a nasty fall. I got up dusted myself off and about 45 seconds later felt pain in/on my left wrist. I looked down to see this horrifying sight. Not the blood, that my Daytona was gone. I frantically looked for it to no avail. I do remember when I stood up in that 45 second window seeing two men walking away. I thought it odd that in a country as polite as Japan that they'd not asked me if I was ok after seeing me fall. They just quickly walked away and out of sight.

The bracelet obviously broke and one of the two picked up my Daytona and made off with it. A complete search of the area numerous times leads this as the only conclusion.

I immediately contacted the police. They were polite and professional but not much they could do. I did not see either of the men's faces and I did not physically see them pick up my Daytona when I fell. I was too busy being embarrassed and checking to see if I was in one piece. Like I said it took me about 45 seconds to realize it was gone and they were too. There was another man nearby that was taking out the garbage at that building but he says he saw nothing. No CCTV cameras where I fell.

Insurance. I contacted my insurance company. When I initially got the policy the maximum that they would insure my personal items was $25,000. They initially only wanted to insure me for $6,000 which was their standard policy. I told them I had a watch collection worth more than that. Fine. They bumped it up to $25,000 but said that was as high as they would go. When I made the claim for my Daytona they refused my claim as the policy unbeknownst to me only allows reimbursement of $3,000 per individual item. They would not even reimburse me the $3,000 as the item I was claiming was more than that. By the way Jeweler's Mutual cancelled my policy the moment I moved out of the US.

Pawn shops. I immediately hit all I knew. They did not seem to care and were even a bit rude. They told me that only a police officer could give them stolen item information. Having been a cop I know there is a critical window where thieves will hit pawn shops before the cops even get information into their databases.

I immediately called back the police and they told me that since I did not actually see the men take my watch that they were filing a lost as opposed to a stolen report. This meant that they would not be entering any data into a nationwide base to tell pawn shops to contact them if someone brought it in for a sale. This was not acceptable to me and after much discussion the detective agreed to enter my information into the data base. Now whether he did or just told me he would to get me off the phone I don't know. I am trusting that he did.

Greys. I went to all the greys that I know locally that take in used Rolex for sale. I talked to salesmen that know me there. They all assured me that if it came in they would contact me.

Rolex RSC Japan. Very helpful. Reported.

Japan's zoning laws allow for staircases to be unlit and without handrails so no recourse there. Pic of the staircase which leads to a lobby where the people were.

That is my painful story. Both to me, my love for that watch ( my grail which I saved forever for) and my wrist. I pray that none of you have to go through it.

Pics below. Lucky I did not break bones in the fall. In fact I would say that my WG Daytona probably saved me from a broken wrist.