A man has been caught on CCTV stripping the luxury watch from an American tourist in front of his family.
The brazen mugger was seen snatching the $45,000 (£37,000) watch from the man's wrist as the victim strolled through Barcelona's central Gothic Quarter with his children.
The criminal can be seen sneaking up behind the man and seizing his arm before ripping the watch away in seconds and running off. The young children appear bewildered and frightened at what they just witnessed, as their father stumbles back before regaining his composure.
Initial reports claimed that the stolen watch was a Swiss-made Hublot's Black Caviar Bang, which is studded with hundreds of precision-cut black diamonds and boasts a price tag of $1 million, reported the Daily Mail. However, it was later confirmed that the watch was a less valuable variant of the Hublot 'Bang' series, still worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Despite this, the American tourist initially filed a police report valuing the stolen watch at $800,000 (£666,000).
A police spokesman said that the time: "I can confirm we are investigating the violent theft of a designer watch worth $800,000 following a complaint from a tourist.
"The person who reported the crime said he was surrounded by a gang of muggers who snatched the watch off his wrist. The incident reportedly happened around 2.20pm on Tuesday. No arrests have yet been made."
Police added that the tourist suffered "minor injuries" in the mugging.
The authorities warned tourists to be vigilant and to take extra care with their personal belongings when visiting the city over the summer, as crime rates tend to increase dramatically over the holiday season.
The incident took place in an upmarket area near the five-star Mercer Hotel.
Travel guide website Barcelona Yellow recommends that tourists "do not wear expensive watches and jewellery outside high-end hotels, luxury shopping areas, outside popular night clubs in upmarket areas" due to "a rise in assaults by criminal gangs targeting very high-end watches, jewellery and phones."
