Police have arrested three more suspects and recovered a high-value watch in relation to a terrifying house burglary in Kimberley.
A number of high-value watches and designer handbags were stolen after five masked men wearing dark clothing smashed their way into the property, off Knowle Hill, shortly before 7.40pm on Thursday 4 December 2025.
Some of the men were armed, with one carrying a sledgehammer and another carrying a pickaxe.
A male victim was viciously assaulted with the sledgehammer when he attempted to confront the intruders, struck to his back and knee.
After assaulting him and pinning him to a sofa, the attackers demanded to know the location of valuables and access to a safe.
Threatened with further violence, the victim was forced to get the safe keys and opened the safe. The offenders then filled a sack with a large quantity of luxury watches from the safe.
As this was happening, his wife was physically dragged upstairs by others from the offending group, where she was forced to show them where the rest of the watches were stored.
The offenders also took many of her luxury designer handbags along with a mobile phone, and a purse containing bank cards.
Three men, aged 29, 30 and 37, were arrested on Tuesday morning after police teams executed warrants at two properties in Leicester.
The 29-year-old was arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, handling stolen goods and possession of a Class B drug.
The 30-year-old was arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of a Class B drug.
The 37-year-old was arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and handling stolen goods.
All three men were released on bail with strict conditions while inquiries continue.
One of the stolen watches has now been recovered after it had been taken into a pawn shop in Leicester.
A further eight suspects, arrested between February and June this year on suspicion of a range of offences, also remain on conditional bail.
Nottinghamshire Police is continuing to investigate the burglary – which resulted in a loss of nearly £1 million to the victims in terms of the stolen valuables and cost of repair work.
Among the luxury watches stolen were:
- Audemars Piguet Royal Oak QP perpetual calendar. This watch was only released in February 2025 and is produced in very limited quantities. This has the recognisable ‘Royal Oak’ octagonal bezel with exposed screws, and a smoky-blue “Grande Tapisserie” dial (like a very fine checkerboard pattern, with etched, raised squares) that displays the day, date, month, leap year and moon phase. The name of Audemars Piguet is displayed at the 6 o’clock mark, within the moon phase indicator
- Rolex “Platona” Daytona Cosmograph, reference 126506. This watch is crafted entirely from platinum, giving it a more silvery sheen than polished steel or white gold. The watch has a rich, ice-blue lacquered dial that is unique to platinum Rolex models. The face has three sub-dials at the 3, 6 and 9, and this particular model has hour markers around the dial which made up of diamond baguettes. There are screw-down pushers and crown
- Omega Speedmaster “Snoopy” 50th anniversary. This watch is a special edition celebrating the Apollo 13 mission and NASA’s ‘Silver Snoopy’ Award. It was released in 2020, in very small batches, making it a highly limited release. It’s notable for having a white dial with three blue sub-dials. At the 9 o’clock sub-dial, the cartoon dog Snoopy can be seen in a spacesuit and, on the caseback, the movement causes another Snoopy to rotate around the watch in a ‘command module’, seeming to orbit around Earth against a starry backdrop
- A pair matching gents and ladies Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘London’ edition. These are very limited editions (60 gents’ watches worldwide and 40 ladies’), made in pink/rose gold and with an octagonal bezel and a very distinctive black ‘pixel’ dial, which would appear as a light-catching, pixellated effect. There is a date window at the 3 o’clock position.
A large number of designer handbags were also taken, including pieces from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Jimmy Choo, and Dior.
The most distinctive of these pieces is a white Chanel “Boy” handbag, in a style available only from Milan. This specific bag is made of quilted white leather and is unique due to it having a rigid top handle with Chanel written across it. It is not a variant which can be bought from the UK.
Detective Constable James Gill, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “As these latest arrests show, our investigation into this appalling crime is very much ongoing.
“As we progress with our inquiries, I also hope it reassures victims that we are committed to pursuing those suspected of such serious offences and that we will continue to target those involved in these crimes to keep our communities safe.”
