Tokyo man steals a $292,000 watch and flees 2 employees, then anonymously returns it 3 days later with an apology letter

A man walked into a watch store in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward on October 29 and asked staff to let him try on a rare Audemars Piguet piece valued at around $292,000. Moments later, he left the shop and managed to get away from the two employees who were on duty, according to a report in The Japan Times.

On November 1, the same man arranged for the watch to be delivered back to the store by courier. Along with the package, he included a written note in which he said he was sorry for the robbery.

Staff at the store examined the serial number on the returned watch and verified that it was the original item taken three days earlier. The apology note also listed a name and an address, though the employees who handled it believe both pieces of information are fake.

Police review surveillance images after the watch is sent back

Authorities continue to investigate the theft. Footage from security cameras in the area appears to capture the man boarding a train and later taking a taxi as he left the neighborhood following the incident. Watch transactions can go wrong in other ways too, as shown by a Seiko watch eBay dispute.

The store has not publicly released the man’s identity. Beyond confirming the match on the serial number and noting the contents of the apology, the business has shared few additional details about the package or the note. Store staff can also be at the center of watch controversies, such as an Apple Watch Ultra purchase dispute.

In a separate case that came to light in August, according to Dexerto, a bookstore in California reported the return of a rare volume that had been missing for more than forty years. Booklegger said a first-edition copy of The Unstrung Harp arrived at the shop together with an apology letter and one hundred dollars.

The person who mailed the book back wrote that they had been in “desperate need of money” when they took it. They also apologized for their “utter lack of principles.”

Actor Hayden Christensen has recounted an episode in which he discovered a burglar inside his house. The intruder recognized him and offered an apology; Christensen then provided the man with clothes and shoes before the situation ended.