Wednesday September 15th, Audemars Piguet’s Museum got unwanted visitors. Two thieves managed to enter the company’s Museum located in Le Brassus and fled with the loot towards France. Four minutes were enough for their action.
The robbers broke into the Museum around 4 o’clock early morning. «Using a ladder to access the first floor, the thieves succeeded in destroying two windows made of bulletproof glass which instantly switched on the alarm» reports Juliane Gauthier, spokeswoman of Audemars Piguet. The police arrived six minutes later but the robbers had already cleared the floor and escaped towards France in a car. «They hardly spent four minutes in the Museum» reports Juliane Gauthier. The security cameras filmed two men.
On Wednesday night the burglars were not caught. «They were extremely well prepared» says Jean-Christophe Sauterel, spokesman of Canton de Vaud's police and “They knew exactly where they had to goâ€.
They have cleared almost everything from one of the six rooms the Museum counts. They took collector’s pieces some of which were unique pieces. Nothing has been said about the value of the loss. The building is a private Museum only open on appointment. It contains very old timepieces and gives an overview of AP's production expertise over the years since foundation, starting with ultra thin watches and reaching to the most sophisticated complication. The Museum is located in the former residence of the Audemars family.
In 2007 a wave of burglaries already hit Jura established watchmakers. While Girard-Perregaux’s Museum located in the Villa Marguerite in La Chaux-de-Fonds got cleared out in July 2007, Jaeger-LeCoultre received unsolicited visitors in their premises in September 2007 (pictures of the stolen pieces).
It would be fantastic if the watches missing from AP’s Museum, which were phenomenal for the least, would reaper under an oak tree as did the ones from the GP Museum.
The robbers broke into the Museum around 4 o’clock early morning. «Using a ladder to access the first floor, the thieves succeeded in destroying two windows made of bulletproof glass which instantly switched on the alarm» reports Juliane Gauthier, spokeswoman of Audemars Piguet. The police arrived six minutes later but the robbers had already cleared the floor and escaped towards France in a car. «They hardly spent four minutes in the Museum» reports Juliane Gauthier. The security cameras filmed two men.
On Wednesday night the burglars were not caught. «They were extremely well prepared» says Jean-Christophe Sauterel, spokesman of Canton de Vaud's police and “They knew exactly where they had to goâ€.
They have cleared almost everything from one of the six rooms the Museum counts. They took collector’s pieces some of which were unique pieces. Nothing has been said about the value of the loss. The building is a private Museum only open on appointment. It contains very old timepieces and gives an overview of AP's production expertise over the years since foundation, starting with ultra thin watches and reaching to the most sophisticated complication. The Museum is located in the former residence of the Audemars family.
In 2007 a wave of burglaries already hit Jura established watchmakers. While Girard-Perregaux’s Museum located in the Villa Marguerite in La Chaux-de-Fonds got cleared out in July 2007, Jaeger-LeCoultre received unsolicited visitors in their premises in September 2007 (pictures of the stolen pieces).
It would be fantastic if the watches missing from AP’s Museum, which were phenomenal for the least, would reaper under an oak tree as did the ones from the GP Museum.
