British tourist in his seventies has £234,000 Swiss watch snatched from his wrist by thief who ‘overpowered him’ while he was out for dinner in Bordeaux
- The British tourist was about to go on a walk in Bordeaux when his watch stolen
- Thief is said to have overpowered the man before stealing the Swiss watch
- Suspect snatched watch from the man’s wrist before disappearing into crowd
A British tourist in his seventies had his £234,000 Swiss watch snatched from his wrist by a thief while he was out for dinner in the French city of Bordeaux.
The Briton was about to walk through Bordeaux after finishing dinner with friends when a thief allegedly overpowered him before stealing the watch.
The suspect managed to snatch the watch, a luxury model made in Switzerland worth an estimated £234,000, from the man’s wrist before disappearing into the crowd at the Place de la Comedie, reports Sud Ouest.
A British tourist in his seventies had his £234,000 Swiss watch snatched from his wrist by a thief while he was out for dinner in the French city of Bordeaux (file image)
The tourist has filed a complaint to the police and an investigation has been launched into the theft.
There have been a number of instances of thieves targeting rich tourists in France and stealing their expensive belongings.
Last year, a millionaire businessman was mugged by thieves who stole his £350,000 watch off his wrist as he left a restaurant on the French Riviera.
Richard Skelhorn said two men snatched his limited-edition Richard Millie Lotus F1 watch by grabbing his arm and slipping it off.
The 41-year-old chased after the robbers but was unable to catch them as they fled into the back streets of the exclusive resort of St Tropez in the south of France.
The businessman had paid £100,000 for the watch, made from carbon and features 18k rose gold, eight years ago as a gift to himself after selling his first company. As so few of the watches have been made it has appreciated in value.
Millionaire British businessman Richard Skelhorn (pictured) has told how he was mugged by thieves who stole his £350,000 watch off his wrist as he left a restaurant on the French Riviera
The entrepreneur said two men snatched his limited-edition Richard Millie Lotus F1 watch by grabbing his arm and slipping it off
Skelhorn, who sold his last company specialising in online bingo and gaming for more than £40million, was later contacted by another businessman who said he had his Richard Millie watch stolen in St Tropez by two men.
Thieves in France have also targeted the homes of celebrities as well as film sets.
In February this year, 20 masked men robbed the set of the Netflix drama series Lupin in Nanterre, France, and made off with an estimated £254,000.
The thieves broke onto the set after launching mortar fireworks in the area, though a Netflix statement confirmed no one was harmed in the incident.
Authorities in Nanterre have launched an investigation into the robbery, though it wasn’t specified what was stolen.
Last year, British broadcaster Piers Morgan said that thieves stole more than £10,000 in cash from him and his wife Celia as they slept during a robbery at their luxurious holiday home in Côte d’Azur, France.
The thieves stole the money as well as a handbag and expensive jewellery.