Priceless watch collection recovered
A collection of exclusive timepieces worth millions of Swiss francs has been recovered after being stolen from a watch museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds last week.
Justice officials said police in neighbouring France found the 98 watches in a bag beneath an oak tree about 55km from the northwestern Swiss border town.
The investigating magistrate of canton Neuchâtel, Sylvie Favre, said two men were arrested within hours of the heist at the Girard-Perregaux watch museum of La Chaux-de-Fonds last Thursday.
However investigators made no announcement at the time so as not to jeopardise the search for the watches and a third accomplice, who remains at large.
Favre said the Swiss authorities had made extradition requests for the two men of Balkan origin who are in their thirties.
“The way in which the culprits stole and transported these valuable watches indicates that they were not collectors themselves,” she said on Monday.
Rare occurence
Willy Schweizer, the museum curator, congratulated the Swiss and French police for their “superb work”.
“Now that the henchmen have been caught, the most important thing is to try and track down the person who ordered the heist,” he said.
Experts said selling the haul would have been difficult because each watch was registered.
The luxury timepieces, including a watch which had won a gold medal at the 1901 World Exhibition in Paris, were brought back to Switzerland and identified.
“The watches are already in a safe with us,” said Schweizer, adding that they had not suffered too much damage.
The Girard-Perregaux museum was robbed by three men who took virtually all the watches on display.
Watch heists are relatively rare in Switzerland. A year ago three robbers broke into the Château des Monts museum in the northwestern town of Le Locle. Police later retrieved parts of the loot and arrested one man.
In 2002 thieves robbed Geneva’s Clock and Watch Museum and stole more than 200 timepieces worth several million francs. The museum has remained closed since.
swissinfo with agencies
Girard-Perregaux is a Swiss manufacturer of complex timepieces. The company can trace its origins to 1791 making it one of the older manufacturers within the industry.
The current name however did not appear until 1854 when watchmaker Constant Girard married Marie Perregaux and the modern company was born.
Girard-Perregaux is well known within the watchmaking world for creating the unique Tourbillon with three gold bridges watch movement.
The company can also claim true manufacture status, meaning that it produces the majority of the movements used within its timepieces, rather than relying on stock or parts made by other companies.
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