The watch, valued at about $21,000, has been returned to its owner.

CLEARWATER – It’s a happy Christmas for one man who flew to Florida on Friday (Dec. 21) to pick up his watch that was stolen almost 10 years ago in Italy.

The reunion of Alberto Laboni with his Audemars Piguet took place at Clearwater police headquarters. The watch is valued at about $21,000.

The watch had been turned in recently to the Audemars Piguet location at 3040 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. for repairs. All of the high-end watches are registered by serial number, so store workers there knew it had been stolen. That’s when they contacted Clearwater police, and the effort to return the watch to Laboni began.

Laboni said the watch was stolen in 2009 as he drove on the downtown streets of Milan. He was driving when a scooter intentionally sideswiped his outside mirror. When he reached out to fix the mirror, another man on a scooter zipped by and yanked the watch from his wrist.

How the watch got to Clearwater and how many times it may have been sold over the years is unknown. What is known is that Laboni and his family were excited to get the watch back. They flew in to Miami from Italy today, then drove to Clearwater to pick up the watch.

Photos courtesy of the Clearwater Police Department.

Clearwater Police | Crime | Stolen Watch | Tampabay News

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