What is Driving Luxury Watch Claims?

Well sometimes it’s fraud. Here’s the word from The Watch Register;

New research from The Watch Register, reveals how the insurance industry is strengthening its response to fraudulent luxury watch claims, while highlighting notable regional differences

The study, conducted amongst insurance loss adjusters and claims managers across the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, reveals that, on average, insurers estimate nearly one in 10 (9%) of fraudulent luxury watch claims are linked to organised crime groups or networks.

The study found that, on average, 8% of fraudulent luxury watch claims are believed to be linked to international criminal networks, highlighting the increasingly global nature and growing sophistication of these activities.

Antonia Kimbell, Recoveries and Business Development Associate, of The Watch Register, said: “Fraud involving luxury watches is not just confined to isolated or opportunistic incidents. We are seeing a growing level of organisation and international coordination, with criminal networks exploiting the liquidity of watches and the global nature of the pre-owned market. The international nature reinforces the importance of intelligence sharing and global databases to identify activity and disrupt these networks.”

The research also explored the types of fraud most encountered, with inflated valuations (35%) and counterfeit goods (31%) being the most cited examples.

Type of fraud Reported exposure amount encountered by insurers and loss adjusters (%)

Inflated values 35%

Counterfeit goods 31%

False claim to ownership 27%

Multiple insurance claims for the same item 4%

Fictitious loss 3%

Beyond fraud, the study highlights a concerning rise in the use or threat of violence involved in luxury watch theft claims reported. Overall, 70% of insurers report an increase in such incidents over the past three years, with one in 20 (5%) describing this rise as dramatic.

The Watch Register has identified over 5,000 lost and stolen watches since the service was founded in 2014. In 2025 alone, stolen watches identified by The Watch Register have been traced across 34 countries spanning North and South America, Europe, Asia, North Africa, Australia and the Middle East, underlining both the global scale of the problem and the reach of the platform.