On Thursday, an armed gang robbed a Chanel watch and jewellery store. 

According to police, the robbery occurred during the day in the Place Vendome area of central Paris, which was also the site of another high-profile robbery last year. 

One robber was seen with what appeared to be an automatic weapon outside the Chanel store on Rue de la Paix, according to video footage posted on Twitter by Paris police.

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Three more robbers, dressed in black and wearing helmets, stormed out of the store holding bags and sped away on two motorcycles. 

Three people dressed in black exit the boutique, while a fourth, carrying an assault rifle on a shoulder strap, waits on a motorcycle. 

Nobody was hurt during the robbery, and there was no immediate indication of the value of the bounty.

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Police said at least one of the four, who were all masked and wore helmets, carried an assault rifle, with a witness confirming that the others also had automatic weapons.

The police prefecture tweeted that members of a special brigade were deployed to the scene shortly after the robbery, which occurred around 3 p.m.

Anastasia Martino, 26, who works in a clothing store across the street from Chanel, said she was on a cigarette break when she noticed “a man with a Kalashnikov on a motorbike” around 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT). 

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“Two minutes later, three other men left the boutique carrying big black bags. They, too, had automatic weapons, got on two motorbikes, and left in a hurry.”

Her colleague, 31-year-old Cyril Ngo, said the robbery lasted ten minutes. “These weren’t professionals,” he pointed out. 

The Chanel store is on Rue de la Paix, close to Place Vendome, in an area known for its high concentration of luxury jewellery stores. 

Shortly after the robbery, police cordoned off the area, and the store was closed.

In recent months, armed robberies have occurred in several Parisian jewellery stores. 

In September, Paris police apprehended three suspected armed robbers after opening fire on their car as they fled a 10 million euro ($12 million) jewellery heist at a Bulgari store on Place Vendome in central Paris, near the Ritz hotel. 

Thieves stole nearly 2 million euros ($2.4 million) in jewellery from a Chaumet store near the Champs-Elysees in July, but the stolen goods were later recovered and the suspects arrested.

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Chanel, founded by Coco Chanel in 1910, is one of France’s leading fashion houses. Chanel specializes in women’s ready-to-wear clothing, luxury items, and accessories. Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer, the grandsons of Coco Chanel’s early business partner Pierre Wertheimer, currently own the company.