Recently, American star Sebastian Korda’s watch was stolen in Monte Carlo when he was playing the Monte Carlo Masters. That shook him to a huge extent. But he is not the only sportsperson to have had such an experience. Including Korda, here are 5 sportspersons whose expensive watches got stolen from them –
Rafael Nadal ($525,000 Richard Mille watch)
This happened in 2012 after Rafael Nadal won his record 7th French Open title. He beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the final and broke Bjorn Borg’s record of 6 French Open titles. After that, Nadal lost his $525,000 priced Richard Mille RM027 watch. It was stolen from his Paris hotel, where it was kept on the bedside.
The watch was quickly recovered from the person who stole it. As it turned out, it was a staff member of the hotel.
Today, the Richard Mille Tourbillon Rafael Nadal RM27 watch is going for $1,380,000 on sale on Chrono24.
Sebastian Korda ($311,425 Richard Mille watch)
Sebastian Korda had his watch stolen during the Monte Carlo Masters 2024. Interestingly, like Rafael Nadal, he too endorses Richard Mille and so was wearing the Swiss brand’s watch. It was reportedly snatched from him by two ‘hooded and masked’ robbers on the streets of Roqueburne-Cap-Martin, where the Masters are taking place. The watch cost $311,425 and it was most likely a RM 67-02 model that Korda wore.
Grigor Dimitrov ($77,931 Swiss Bianchet watch)
This happened in Barcelona last year when Grigor Dimitrov was there ahead of the Barcelona Open, according to The Sun. The watch cost $77,931 and was snatched from his wrist by a pair of hoodlums on a bike. The crime happened on the Avenida de Sarria street. It was a Swiss Bianchet watch.
Carlos Sainz ($300,000 Richard Mille watch)
Spanish F1 driver Carlos Sainz is on this list as well. In September 2023, the Ferrari driver’s watch was stolen from his hotel room in Milan after the Monza Grand Prix. The watch cost about $300,000 and Sainz reportedly chased the thieves who stole the timepiece. Miraculously, Sainz and a few others caught up with those perpetrators and retrieved the watch.
The watch in question is a Richard Millie RM 67-02 designed in the colors of the Ferrari car, i.e. red and yellow. Although ESPN initially reported the value of the watch to be around $500,000, watch enthusiasts stated that it costs lesser; somewhere around $300,000.
Diego Maradona (Hublot Big Bang Watch)
Late Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona passed away in 2020. A year later, in Assam, India, a watch belonging to the legend was recovered from a man named Wazid Hussein. It turns out that Hussein had stolen the watch from Maradona during one of his visits to the country. In cooperation with the Dubai Police, police in Assam recovered this rare, limited-edition Hublot Big Bang Watch.
Maradona had worn the watch a few times during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The watch featured a Hublot’s HUB1146 chronograph movement, alongside 55 jewels and 42 hours of power reserve.
