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Luxury Theft Surge in London: Over £5.5 Million Stolen in 19 Months

Watches and Jewellery

Luxury Theft Surge in London Exceeds £5.5M Loss

Business Honor
26 December, 2025

Report reveals alarming crime trends, with high-end goods targeted and low recovery rates for stolen items.

A few UK media outlets have published reports, following Freedom of Information requests (FOIR) sent to Metropolitan Police Service, indicating that London has experienced a massive increase in crime over the past 19 months, with over £5.5million worth of high-value luxury watches, handbags and jewellery being stolen. A total of 3,207 high-value items stolen (all worth £1,000+) from the streets of London, demonstrating the extent to which rising crime rates affect both the local population and travellers. Over the 19-month period January 2024 - August 2025, Westminster was by far the area with the highest reported number of burglaries for handbags (363), watches (309) and jewelry (104) stolen.

This particular borough also contains many stores that sell luxury designer business line products, making it a prime target for high-value burglaries and potentially violent incidents. Some recent high-profile celebrities who have been hacked or had their computers broken into include television presenters Christine Lampard and Genevieve Chenneour, which raises an alarming sign of a growing trend that is affecting not just regular people but even 'famous' individuals. Furthermore, this evidence shows that there is a significant connection outside of the country to the international level. Criminal organizations have also been reported to enter the United Kingdom from other countries such as Algeria and Bulgaria in order to steal jewellery.

Although the Metropolitan Police have publicly stated that they will assist the public in addressing these crimes, there are little or no goods recovered. Of 1,036 recorded incidents of jewellery thefts in which goods were lost to either property or finances, only one item has been recovered, representing an astonishing recovery rate of less than 0.1%. A similar pattern is occurring with respect to watch theft: only three of the 792 watches that were stolen were recovered; and only six of the 727 handbags that were taken have been returned to their owners since that date.