Two burglars smashed the window of a luxury goods shop in the IFC mall in Central and fled with 40 watches in front of a security guard during a Lunar New Year’s Day raid.
In a drama that lasted for barely two minutes, one of the pair broke open the glass door of Montblanc with a sledgehammer at about 11.40pm on Saturday, when the shop had been closed for the whole day.
The duo, said to be non-Chinese and wearing surgical masks and knitted caps, defied the guard and smashed three glass showcases inside, sweeping the watches into a bag and ran.
At one point, they attempted to intimidate the guard by threatening him with the sledgehammer.
At a taxi stand outside, the pair got into a car driven by a third man and sped off.
Police said the Germany-based chain, which specialises in several lines of products including watches, writing instruments and jewellery, had confirmed that about 40 watches valued at a total of HK$1 million were snatched.
Central district crime squad was investigating
A sledgehammer has been used in previous burglaries in the city. In September, a group of five or more burglars stole about HK$2 million worth of handbags and watches from the Chanel store at Lee Garden One on Hysan Avenue – one of Hong Kong’s prime retail strips in Causeway Bay, in just 80 seconds.