What Did You Expect Them to Steal — Your Zara Tote?

 

In a world where everyone knows the price of everything, wearing wealth is no longer a flex — it is a risk.

 

The Richard Mille Was Louder Than the Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc is not just any man walking the streets of Italy — he is Scuderia Ferrari’s golden boy, a Formula 1 style icon. But none of that mattered when a thief spotted what was on his wrist: a Richard Mille RM 67-02. A skeletonized marvel of engineering — the kind of watch that does not whisper wealth, it screams exclusivity.

Retail? Nearly $300,000 — if you can even get in the waiting list.

The thieves? They ripped it from Leclerc’s wrist without knowing what he is capable of.

And Leclerc? He did exactly what you would expect from someone who races for Ferrari. He got into his Ferrari 488 Pista — yes, his No. 16, a one-of-one built Pista— and chased them through the roads of Viareggio like it was Monza on a Sunday. Real life, not a Netflix “Drive to Survive” episode.

And it is not just Italy.

 

A Rolex Daytona Does not Hide in a Chiron.

Cross over to London, and the wrist becomes a target again — only this time, the chase begins in a £3,000,000 Bugatti Chiron.

Behind the wheel: Abdullah F. Al-Basman — a Kuwaiti businessman known not just for his fleet of hypercars, but for the £110,000 platinum Rolex  always visible on his wrist. That day, he had just stepped out of Berkeley Hotel. Valet brings the car, he exits, people turn heads.

Then — chase starts.

A motorbike slams the window of Chiron. Glass everywhere. Abdullah does not freeze. He floors the W16 engine. The chase ends near Hyde Park, but the message echoes louder than the engine: in London, your wrist can be worth more than your car. And everybody knows.

 

Kim Posted the Ring. They Packed the Suitcase.

This time in Paris. Kim Kardashian. Alone in her The Hôtel de Pourtalès suite. In her bathrobe.

At 2:30 AM, five men dressed as police stormed in — The Grandpa Gang, French criminals in their 60s. They tied her up and threw her in the bathtub.

She begged “I have babies. Please don’t kill me.”

They did not. But they stole everything.

A $4 million Lorraine Schwartz ring. Cartier bracelets. Chopard. Over $10 million in jewels — gone. Wheeled out in her own suitcase.

How did they know?

“She was showing her jewelry on Instagram. That is why we knew.”

 

What connects these scenes is not coincidence. Not drama.

It is a simple truth: luxury today is not just admired — it is hunted.

 

When Everyone Recognizes It, It Stops Being Just Yours

Luxury used to be about applause — yes — but not only. You did not wear the Hermès Kelly or the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak for validation. You wore them because they reflected a version of yourself the majority would not dare express. A quiet separation. A kind of privacy, dressed as prestige.

 

Back then, these objects were seen — but not always understood or recognized.

But now? Everyone knows what it is, what it costs, what it means. Instagram turned rare silhouettes into global symbols. The Cartier Crash silhoutte became as identifiable as the Apple logo — and just like that, it stopped being yours alone.

You used to be able to show it off.

Now? You are told to hide it.

 

What is in the Bag? They Already Know.

With recognizability comes risk. But what happens when even anonymity becomes recognizable?

In London, Paris, Milan — the shopping bags have gone quiet. No more Cartier red. No more Hermès orange. No more Rolex green. What used to whisper “I have something special.” now screams “steal me.”

So the boutiques adapted. They began handing out blank white bags — no logo, no print, no trace.

 

Be Honest. Do You Really Think that Fools Anyone?

If you are walking out of Bond Street with a ghost-white tote and the posture of someone protecting a €20,000 Loro Piana silk trench, you are not invisible — you are marked.

Because now, a white bag does not hide the luxury. It confirms it.

The question is not whether someone saw you.

It is when they are going to take action.

 

Even When You Try to Hide, You Expose Yourself

You think swapping the Neverfull for a Longchamp or the Van Cleef for a Pandora will shield you. But real luxury was never just about the object or the logo. It was always about the atmosphere. If you are the right kind of person, it only takes a glance to give yourself away. Because even when you strip the logos, the character remains.

You did not arrive in a chauffeured Rolls-Royce Cullinan. You drove a deliberately discreet Volvo XC90. Black. Clean. But it pulled up outside a Mayfair prep school — and the moment Volvo stopped, the scene was set.

The child stepped out from her Inglesina car seat, uniform crisp like it had been ironed by someone who irons for a living. Ballet flats matte-polished. Hair in place. And when the father crossed the street holding his kid’s hand, it was not the watch or the car that caught the attention. It was his posture. His silence. His confidence.

It is not what surrounds you — it is the way you move without it.

You thought you were safe because you left the AP at home? But you booked the corner table at Oswald’s. You paid in cash. You took the call in French.

Yes, they noticed. Your choices still echo — and the right eyes hear them loud.

 

You Did not Buy It Just to Look at It, Did You?

Why buy the custom made Kelly if you will never carry it? Why collect the Daytona, the Love Bracelet, the made-to-order Prada shoes — if they will spend their lives zipped in dust bags and boxes?

Is that really what you paid for?

You did not wait two years for a Day-Date just to store. You did not wait in line under the Paris sun for a custom Goyard trunk just to let it yellow in your closet. You did not get your initials hand-painted on a Neverfull for no one to see.

Do not forget that real ones use the good china.

The real ones wear the suede Summer Walk in the rain. They drive the Enzo in traffic. They wear the Daytona to gym — not because they want to prove a point, but because it is theirs. And what is the point of luxury, if not to live in it?

 

So, what’s the solution?

You can try but there is no solution.

The aura always tells. The posture gives it away. The silence does more than the logo ever could.

At Gallemar, we believe: if you were the kind of person who could hide it, you would not have had it to begin with.

A Ferrari is a car. An Hermès is a bag. A Rolex tells time. You are meant to drive it. To carry it. To wear it. So do not be afraid to use it.  Because if you are — you were never truly part of that world. You’re only visiting.

 

Now, you can expect them to steal — maybe your Daytona?

 

📸  All visuals are used for editorial purposes only. We do not claim ownership of these images. If you are the rightful owner and would like your image credited or removed, please contact us.

Unsplash Eliott Goutard / Hotel de Pourtalès Website / Instagram