A. Lange & Söhne Langematik Anniversary Stolen Watch

Amanico shares a distressing personal account of discovering his stolen A. Lange & Söhne Langematik Anniversary Nr 185/500 listed for auction by Antiquorum. His post aims to inform the watch community about the complexities and challenges of reclaiming stolen property, particularly when involving auction houses. This article synthesizes the community's discussion on legal implications, ethical responsibilities, and the broader issue of stolen watches in the secondary market.

I am posting this story so that watch enthusiasts and all others may learn 
from my recent, sad experience.


On the 25th of October, 2015, Antiquorum auctioned several watches in Hong 
Kong. Among them was a watch that was stolen from me on the 18th of 
January, 2011:  My Langematik Anniversary Nr 185 / 500, the "Langematik of 
the Shame," pictured here with photo credit to Antiquorum:

Here, the link to the auction in question:

www.antiquorum.com  

As you see, Antiquorum auctioned only the watch, without any boxes or 
papers. That's because I still have the original box and official Lange 
papers that are unique to this specific watch Nr 185/500. The thief stole 
only the watch, not the box and papers. I still have those.


It was a widely known and easily discoverable fact that this specific 
Langematik Anniversary Nr 185/500 was stolen. See for yourself. Just type 
"Langematik Anniversary Stolen" in Google, and you will find this link at 
or near the top of the Google search results:

forums.timezone.com

Notice that this link is to a Timezone forum -- a site that is, I think, 
associated with Antiquorum -- and it appears at or near the top of the 
search results.


This information is so easy to find, and such a widely known fact, that 
the winning bidder -- an honest gentleman -- immediately discovered it 
upon receiving the watch. He promptly contacted Antiquorum with this 
information and returned the stolen watch to them. Weeks later, and only 
after the "winner" applied some legal pressure to Antiquorum, did 
Antiquorum begin to process his refund. [I know this because the buyer and 
I communicated directly with each other after all this was done. We met 
each other through a fellow collector who also had knowledge of this 
matter.]


Now, what happened can be summed in the following facts. These are just 
facts and only facts. There are no assumptions, no guesses, no 
subjectivity. I have all the correspondance between myself and Antiquorum, 
and some people here have also witnessed these events unfold as I describe 
them.

On the advice of a friend, I contacted Antiquorum to tell them that I was 
the legal owner of this watch which was stolen from me.


On the 4th of November, 2015, I received an email from Antiquorum that 
said this, in part:


"It saddens me to hear about the theft of your timepieces. TO MOVE THIS 
FORWARD [emphasis added], please do scan all your paperwork regarding the 
watch, including the police report, as well as images of the box and any 
other accessories you may have".


Some comments from my part: I immediately did exactly what Antiquorum 
requested, scanning and sending them on the very next day the papers of my 
Langematik Anniversary, the purchase invoice, the police report, and the 
pictures of the boxes. And I confirmed with Antiquorum that I never 
received any insurance money from the theft of this watch.


"To move this forward", they wrote. I had the naivety to think that it 
would help me to get my watch back. I never thought that doing so would 
only allow Antiquorum to cancel the auction and send the watch back to the 
consignor.


After submitting these scans to Antiquorum, I heard nothing. Then, about 
ten days later, I contacted Antiquorum to inquire if things were going in 
a positive way. Antiquorum answered that for the moment, they had no news 
and I should wait ... Ok.


I then asked them, on the 2d of December, 2015, if there were some news... 
And I received, in a very laconic way, this answer:


"We cancelled the sale of the Langematik Anniversary and RETURNED the 
timepiece to the consignor".

You can imagine that I didn't give up, and after contacting Antiquorum NY, 
I received this answer, on the 17th of December:


"We have consulted our legal counsel in NY and HK how to handle this case. 
Due to the AMBIGUITY OF TITLE [emphasis added], we have been advised to 
return the piece to the consignor."


A comment from my part: Where is this "AMBIGUITY OF TITLE"?...


- Who has the boxes and papers unique to this specific watch Nr 185/500? I 
do.


- Who has the invoice for this watch? I do.


- Who has the police report documenting the theft of this watch (22 
watches were stolen to me on the very same day, by the way, and among 
them, of course, this Langematik Anniversary )? I do.


So where is the "AMBIGUITY OF TITLE" here?


How could the "consignor" possibly justify ownership of this watch in a 
better, more robust way than I did? It is impossible. How can he explain 
that I have all the documents, the box, and the police report about that 
watch -- and that this specific watch Nr 185/500 was documented as stolen 
on the internet, on Timezone and in other places, long before this auction 
happened? In what way can the consigner justify that he bought this watch 
without box or papers and never bothered to inquire or learn that the 
watch was stolen from a simple Google search? Note that this watch was 
registered as stolen with Lange, too.

Was the consignor asked what kind of papers from Lange he could show to 
justify its ownership?


Who does have an ambiguity of ownership, here? The consignor or me?


The answer is evident: Antiquorum's way of dealing with this matter is 
unprofessional and deplorable. They asked me to justify my ownership, to 
prove it, and in the end this just helped them to quickly return the watch 
to the consignor who does not and cannot have better evidence of ownership 
than I do. Antiquorum should have held this watch pending its eventual 
return to me, its rightful owner.

And Antiquorum, a "professional" auction house specializing in watches, 
never even checked to see if there was something on the internet or in 
Lange's records about the possibility that this watch -- a limited edition 
Lange without papers or boxes -- was stolen. This is something the winning 
bidder did immediately, and he is not even a dealer, just a private 
collector.


Bravo.


Remember this when you deal with Antiquorum: Be very careful. And if you 
ever find Langematik Anniversary Nr 185 / 500, you now know the story. It 
is stolen.


Best,


Nicolas


PS: Of course, I kept all the correspondence between myself and 
Antiquorum, I have some witnesses of these exchanged emails, and I still 
have all the original documents for my watch.