Customs officials at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport detained on Monday a Russian traveler carrying a gold watch worth 54.5 million rubles ($1.7 million) in his hand luggage, the Federal Customs Service said.
The man passed through the “Nothing to Declare” customs corridor instead of filing a declaration and paying 30 per cent of the cost of the diamond-encrusted Jacob & Co Rainbow Tourbillon watch.
“According to the passenger, he received the watch as a gift in the United States and was unaware of its actual cost,” the customs service said in press release.
Jacob & Co, which was founded in the early 1980s by Jacob Arabo, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, counts movie stars and other celebrities among the owners of its luxury watches and jewelry.
