Hundreds of Swiss luxury watches disappear in Japan

More than 600 Rolexes have gone missing KEYSTONE

More than 800 luxury Swiss watches from brands such as Rolex and Tudor that were deposited in a watch-sharing service have gone missing in Japan.

The company that operated the service was suddenly dissolved and an arrest warrant issued for the former managing director. Some of the watches were presumably sold on; the owners are worried.

The business model of the luxury watch-sharing service “Toke Match” from the company Neo Reverse, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, was to enable owners of luxury watches to deposit them and receive monthly payments based on the value of the watch, while other people could rent the watches. The service was launched in January 2021 and experienced rapid growth. In August 2023, it managed 1,500 watches.

However, on January 31, Neo Reverse announced the “liquidation” of the company and the end of the service on its website. Since then, reports have been published about customers who have not received their deposited watches back and have discovered them online on auction and sales platforms.

International manhunt

More than 860 watches have disappeared, according to a group founded by 190 victims. Of these, 820 are Swiss watches, including around 620 from the Rolex brand and over 60 from Tudor, as well as watches from other well-known brands such as Omega, IWC and Hublot. The total value of the missing watches amounts to around 1.85 billion yen (CHF11 million). It is assumed that there are others affected.

Japanese media report that the police in Tokyo have issued an arrest warrant for the former managing director of Neo Reverse for embezzlement in business operations. He left for Dubai immediately after the company was dissolved. Interpol will be called in to initiate an international manhunt.

However, the delay in issuing the arrest warrant means that the watches may have already been resold, making it more difficult to return them. According to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, affected watches were also offered for sale on Chrono24, the world’s largest luxury watch trading platform. Chrono24 stopped the adverts immediately after learning about the problem.

Those affected expressed their concern to SWI swissinfo.ch that legal differences between the countries were making it difficult to resolve the problem. 

Watch lovers or investors?

On social media, some observers are wondering why the owners deposited their beloved watches in the first place. Some see those affected not as watch lovers, but as investors driven by greed.

SWI swissinfo.ch contacted the group of people affected and asked them. Hiroki M*, who deposited a Rolex GMT Master in December 2023, researched for a year before deciding in favour of Toke Match. He checked the company information and clarified questions about insolvency and how to deal with stolen or damaged watches during the rental period. Toke Match’s certification by the Sharing Economy Association, an industry organisation, gave him additional confidence.

“It was the first luxury watch I ever bought. It’s a really nice watch, so I thought it would be great if someone could borrow it and wear it on a special day,” he said. He explained how 7,000 yen (CHF40) was transferred to him for part of December, but since then no payment has been made and the watch has not been returned.

The Sharing Economy Association, of which Airbnb Japan is also a member, announced in early February that it had cancelled its certification for Toke Match and suspended its membership.

“I wanted as many people as possible to know that there are many good watches other than Rolex,” said Miwa*, whose husband is also a watch fan. “I decided to entrust the watch to the lender in the hope that more people would be interested in watches for reasons other than investment,” she says.

Hiroki S*, who has been a watch fan for 25 years, entrusted Toke Match with eight of his 14 watches. He bought all the watches to mark milestones in his life such as job changes, promotions and wedding anniversaries, and he never thought of selling them. “I had a strong desire to use a watch that I don’t normally wear. Then the devil came along,” he says.

*Name known to the editor

Edited by Reto Gysi von Wartburg. Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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