Stolen $291,000 watch comes back to Tokyo shop by courier with handwritten apology

An Audemars Piguet watch worth about 46 million yen (US$291,300) that a man tried on and ran off with at a Tokyo shop has been returned by courier with a handwritten apology.

The package reached the shop, on the third floor of the Nakano Broadway complex, on Nov. 1, and staff confirmed from its serial number that it was the watch stolen on Oct. 29, investigative sources told Jiji Press.

It had been sent from Aichi Prefecture in central Japan. A sender's name and address were written on it, but police believe they are false, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is still searching for the man who fled.

The note said something to the effect of "I'm sorry," the Mainichi Shimbun reported, naming the shop as the main Nakano store of watch retailer Kamekichi.

Investigative sources told Kyodo News the watch showed no obvious damage, and police suspect whoever stole it may have sent it back.

An Audemars Piguet watch. Illustration photo by Unsplash/m G

The man had entered the shop at around 7:45 p.m. and asked to try on a luxury watch from a display, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. He handed it back, then put the Audemars Piguet on his left wrist.

Still wearing it, he walked to a mirror at the back of the shop, pretended to sit down on a nearby chair and, at about 7:53 p.m., bolted out through the entrance. He ran the wrong way on one of the complex's escalators and fled east, the newspaper said.

Security camera footage showed him getting into a taxi after he left the complex, though he got out after a short ride, Kyodo reported.

Nakano Broadway, a shopping and residential complex known for its anime and manga stores, was hit by another theft in August, when four luxury watches worth a combined 200 million yen were stolen from a different watch shop. Two Chilean nationals were arrested on suspicion of theft and later indicted, the Mainichi reported.