(Bloomberg) -- Richemont is building a digital platform to help police forces worldwide fight theft of luxury watches and jewelry.

The platform is open to the entire luxury industry and owners can register their collections using the brand and serial numbers, the Swiss company said Thursday. They can also report theft or a loss and check if a piece they are planning to buy is stolen or not. 

The platform, dubbed Enquirus, already has 175 brands of luxury watchmakers and several jewelers already pre-loaded.

Paris and Geneva police authorities have registered with the platform, and the UK police has given it an official accreditation as a security initiative. Partners also include Zurich Insurance Group, LMG Jewellery, a UK organization that manages insurance claims, and auctioneer Bonhams.  

Reports of high-end watch robberies, many of them violent, have been increasing in cities around the world. That threatens not only consumers, but also the brands whose sales could take a hit if wearing one of their watches endangers their safety.

Thousands of customers have already uploaded their data and more than 28,000 watches and pieces of jewelry have been registered as lost or stolen, Richemont said. The database will compete with efforts such as thewatchregister.com.

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