Armed Robbery at Watchmaker’s in Reykjavík

Three men in masks robbed the watch and jewelry store Michelsen on Laugavegur, Reykjavík’s main shopping street, yesterday morning. They were armed with handguns and threatened the watchmaker and his staff.



The thieves were well organized, using three stolen getaway cars. Eyewitnesses say they were inside the store for only about one minute and they only took the most expensive watches, as reported by broadcasters Stöd 2 and RÚV.

“It is clear that they didn’t plan it over a cup of coffee,” watchmaker Frank Michelsen commented to Fréttabladid. They stole watches of the brands Rolex, Tudor and Michelsen, which cost around ISK 500,000 (USD 4,300, EUR 3,100) each.

Two handguns replicas were found but the store’s staff insist that a shot was fired during the robbery, although sufficient proof has yet to be found, visir.is reports.

Border security at Keflavík International Airport was reinforced immediately following the robbery but the culprits remain unfound. The police have obtained recordings from the store’s security cameras.

Michelsen said the most important thing is that everyone is safe, not necessarily that the watches are retrieved, and that “this shouldn’t be allowed to take place in Iceland, that robberies like this are carried out in our peaceful country—or as it has been so far.”

The watchmaker is offering ISK 1 million (USD 8,600, EUR 6,300) in prize for those who can help the police solve this case. Call: (+354) 444-1000 or email: abending@lrh.is.
Here is a picture of a man the police believe may have had part in the robbery.

The three men who are wanted by police for having robbed the watch and jewelry store Michelsen on Laugavegur in Reykjavík on Monday morning, threatening the watchmaker and his staff with handguns, are believed to have already fled the country.
They are suspected of having made their exit by airplane from Keflavík International Airport on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning despite surveillance at the airport having been reinforced immediately following the robbery, Morgunbladid reports.

The Reykjavík Metropolitan Police’s investigation is ongoing.

The newspaper’s sources state that the men had three to four cars at their disposal on Monday morning, one of which they left downtown on Vegamótastígur with the engine running, driving another onwards to Smáragata. A witness saw them switch cars.

A probe into the weapons they used—two were recovered and turned out to be handgun replicas—concluded that they were bought in a store in the capital region.

The watchmaker has offered ISK 1 million (USD 8,600, EUR 6,300) in reward for information which assists police in solving this case. After publishing pictures of one of the suspects a number of tips were received, but none have led to their arrest.

The loot included expensive Rolex watches. The theft has been reported to the luxury watch manufacturer, which considers it large in scale in comparison to theft of Rolex watches around the world, Fréttabladid reports.

The modus operandi of the armed robbery of Rolexes and other valuables from the watchmaker Michelsen on Laugavegur in Reykjavík on Monday is considered to be similar to robberies that were conducted in Denmark, Switzerland and the UK in the past months.
In all cases three men armed with guns were involved and at least in the case of the Danish robberies they are believed to have been foreigners. They escaped in all instances and have been nicknamed “The Rolex Raiders” by the foreign media, visir.is reports.

The media also speculates whether the bandits worked out their modus operandi after having watched The Town (2010), a crime thriller set in Boston which features a string of robberies. Ben Affleck directed the film and played the lead.

No one has yet been questioned or arrested in relation to the robbery in Iceland. According to yesterday’s news, the bandits are believed to have escaped the country either on the day of the robbery or the following morning.

A man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of being accomplice to the so-called Rolex Raiders who robbed the watchmaker’s Michelsen on Laugavegur in Reykjavík on Monday last week, threatening the owner and his staff with guns.



The entire loot, 49 watches worth ISK 50-70 million (USD 439,000-615,000, EUR 313,000-439,000), was recovered yesterday. It was carefully hidden in a car with British license plates, Fréttabladid reports.

The man traveled to Iceland with the Norraena ferry and is believed to have planned to leave with the loot by ferry as well.

The three men who robbed the store were able to escape the country by airplane to Copenhagen on October 18, the morning after the robbery. The police know their identities and a warrant has been issued for their arrest.

It is believed that the men only came to Iceland to rob the store. They have no known connection with Iceland and are all Polish citizens.

“We invested much effort in the investigation which led to us having names on Tuesday evening,” assistant chief of police Hördur Jóhannesson said at a press conference yesterday along with his colleague Jón H.B. Snorrason, ruv.is reports.

The four men came to Iceland one week before committing the robbery and used the time to carefully plan it. Three of the men were responsible for robbing the store while the fourth was supposed to leave the country with the loot.

“After 48 hours our investigation had given us reasoned suspicion on who the armed robbers were. It was also clear that those three men left the country in the first 24 hours,” said Snorrason, who is also assistant chief of police.

“Suspicion had also arisen on the fourth man whom we arrested [yesterday]. In connection with the arrest we found the loot and confiscated it,” he continued. The man was staying at a guesthouse.

“We have made arrangements so that these men will be arrested wherever they’re caught. They are wanted and we will demand that they’re extradited to Iceland,” Snorrason added of the three men who got away.

Two days after the robbery, the store’s owner, watchmaker Frank Michelsen, offered ISK 1 million (USD 8,800, EUR 6,300) in reward to those whose tips to the police that would lead to the perpetrators’ arrest. It is unclear if anyone is entitled to the reward money.

Frank Michelsen’s son, Róbert Michelsen, told visir.is that the family is very grateful to the police for having solved the case.

He added that various European police departments have dealt with similar robberies, which were possibly carried out by the same men.

“It would not only have been an extensive loss but also terrible if the case would have remained unresolved in all eternity,” said Róbert Michelsen.

“We are just incredibly thankful for the police’s selfless and tireless work because we know under how difficult circumstances police officers work, not to mention the low salaries,” he added.

It hasn’t been disclosed whether a tip from a member of the public led to the crime being solved—and the police won’t accept the reward—but if that turns out to be the case, “my father will pay the million with a smile,” Róbert Michelsen promised.

Meanwhile, two women of foreign origin have bee placed under custody on suspicion of extensive theft from stores in the capital region, Morgunbladid reports.

It is estimated that up to ISK 6 billion (USD 53 million, EUR 38 million) are lost every year due to theft from stores in Iceland. In 80-90 percent of instances where products of high value are stolen, the perpetrators are of foreign origin.

Two of the men who are suspected of having robbed the watchmaker’s Michelsen in Reykjavík in October were arrested in Kolbynica, Poland, last week, two days after their identities were published on Interpol’s list of wanted people.
However, as the extradition agreement between Iceland and Poland states that countries don’t extradite their own citizens, the suspects were later released. The whereabouts of the third suspect are still unknown, ruv.is reports.

The case’s progress is uncertain. The Reykjavík Metropolitan Police, the State Prosecutor and the Ministry of the Interior will decide whether a demand will be made that the suspects be questioned in their home country or that the prosecution will be handed over to Polish authorities.