Kensington & Chelsea had the second highest number of jewellery thefts reported in London during 2020, with Croydon the fourth highest, according to police data.
A Freedom of Information request by Jewellerybox to UK police forces showed that last year the borough of Kensington & Chelsea had 967 cases of jewellery stolen while Croydon had 758 thefts.
In total, London had a total value of more than £373million of jewellery stolen between 2018 and 2020, more than anywhere else in the UK.
Nottingham was second with a fraction compared to the capital at nearly £7million.
Jewellerybox marketing manager Deana Borrowman said: “One in ten people living in London is a millionaire and with Westminster being home to the Queen and Kensington & Chelsea dotted with homes of celebrities and international entrepreneurs, it comes as no surprise to us that London experiences the most high-value thefts in the UK.”
Unsurprisingly the number of thefts reported in 2020 decreased due to the pandemic and the country being in lockdown.
For example, there were double the number of reported thefts in Kensington & Chelsea in 2019 compared with 2020.
While Hammersmith & Fulham saw a third more reported cases in 2019 compared with 2020.
However, it seems jewellery thefts were already decreasing before the pandemic with numbers falling in more than 80% of places across the UK during 2018 and 2019.
Another impact the pandemic appears to be having when it comes to jewellery is on size.
Jewellerybox saw a 25% increase in the physical size of jewellery sold in 2020 compared with the previous year.
The online jewellery retailer noted that this could be due to people wanting their jewellery to be seen more on video calls like Zoom and also potentially combined with trend changes for chunkier or larger jewellery items.
But how do you stop potential thieves from stealing your jewellery in the first place?
Borrowman said: “First things first, ensure that all high-end jewellery is insured to cover you in the event of a theft.
“We also recommend placing all valuable jewellery in a safety deposit box in your bank during the times you know you won’t be wearing it and in a secure safe hidden from clear view during the times you have it with you in your home.
“Burglars are very sophisticated so please try and avoid posting images of your jewellery online especially if you have public social media accounts and if you feel that you must, disable location settings and always wait until you return back from a holiday to update your social media feeds.
“Do not forget about protecting your artificial everyday jewellery – make the effort to wrap up each piece and store it away from the elements and prying eyes.”
The Metropolitan Police also offered their crime prevention advice here to help keep burglars out of your property.
