Singaporean DJ says 2 Rolexes worth $42,000 stolen during Ibiza holiday but police did not want to help

While many of us are excited to finally be able to travel after two long years of the pandemic, let's not forget to be vigilant while overseas, especially if we have valuables. 

Nightclub DJ and influencer Peggy Heng, her husband Phillip Tan, and their group of 12 friends learnt this the hard way when their Airbnb villa was burgled on the last day of their stay in Ibiza, Spain. 

And among the items that went missing? A pair of new and very expensive Rolex watches belonging to the couple. 

In a TikTok video uploaded yesterday (Aug 28), Heng, 33, shared that she and her husband had gotten their matching watches as wedding gifts for their honeymoon while they were in Amsterdam. 

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On that very trip, the duo had purchased a Rolex Datejust 41mm with fluted bezel black diamond dial and a Rolex Datejust 36mm with mother of pearl white diamond dial for a grand total of about $42,000. 

On Rolex Singapore's website, these watches cost $25,200 and $16,800 respectively. 

After touring Amsterdam, they said that they headed to Ibiza only to have their shared Airbnb villa, which cost $1,700 per night, burglarised during their last night in Spain.

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"Traumatised for life," Heng wrote in the video captions. 

In a separate TikTok that was uploaded on Aug 13, Heng and her friend Simbian Chua documented the incident in detail with a mock interview. 

Heng said that in July, she and her husband were touring Europe visiting countries including Germany, Amsterdam, Brussels and Ibiza before returning to Germany for their flight back to Singapore.

She did not mention if her 12 friends had been with them throughout the entire duration of the trip. 

Adding that as she has not travelled for two years and is someone "who doesn't really splurge", she felt the need to pamper herself and her loved ones, gifting Tan a watch while in Europe.

She had initially no intention to get one for herself. 

But when the store offered Heng a second watch to match her husband's, she jumped at the opportunity thinking it may be "God's sign" since it can be hard to secure certain new Rolex timepieces from the distributor. 

Unfortunately, their happiness was pretty short-lived. 

When they returned to the Airbnb on their last day in Ibiza, the villa was in a disarray and both watches were gone. While both Heng's watch and the watch box were stolen, Tan's watch box had been left behind. 

"He almost cried seeing his box," said Heng, adding that they had gone to great lengths to hide the watches in their locked luggages. 

"I think the villa wasn't very well-protected, it was quite secluded," Heng said in hindsight on the accommodation she stayed in for a week with her friends. 

Both Heng and Chua pointed out that a couple of "rich and famous" people like French DJ David Guetta and retired Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo Nazario own villas on that island.

In June however, some $4 million worth of items were stolen from Ronaldo's home, reported Spanish football site Football Espana.

"Maybe I should feel happy that I was robbed together with them," Heng joked. 

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The police weren't of much help

Along with the watches, two of Heng's pricey Rimowa luggage were stolen as well.

She said she had hidden an AirTag, a tracking device, in a small Givenchy bag in the suitcase so she was able to track down her luggage if it gets lost. 

However, when she and Tan approached the police for help at the scene, they allegedly refused to do anything, said Heng.

"They did not allow him anywhere near [the burglars] house, so [Tan] couldn't sound the alarm of the AirTag. They also didn't want to go in because they have no warrant," she explained.

Heng also said that the police shouted "This is Spain! This is Spain! You cannot go there. You cannot come into their house" at her husband. 

The next day, the couple said they found out that the burglars threw out the AirTag from the luggage into a recycling bin. 

In the comments section, Heng told a netizen that while she had bought insurance for the trip, it was "not enough to cover" the damages, adding that she regrets not getting the luxury watches insurance too. 

"We thought we had honeymoon luck to score Rolexes, turned out was the opposite," Heng said. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Heng for her comment. 

This isn't the first time a public figure has gotten robbed while overseas either. 

Back in March, thieves broke into the car of local celebrities Pornsak, Shane Pow and Kang Chengxi right before their flight back to Singapore from the US.

All valuables like their phones, passports and money were stolen. 

ALSO READ: Luggage stolen from Singaporean tour group in Italy, including $15k worth of new designer goods

melissateo@asiaone.com