THE armed gang behind an audacious city centre jewellery heist escaped in a white van with their £200,000 haul.            

The brazen lunchtime raid on the Rox store in Argyll Arcade, Glasgow , was carried out by four masked men brandishing hammers and axes.

They made off with 18 luxury Hublot and Bell & Ross watches .

Three Hublots, worth £31,600, were also damaged during the robbery.

The Swiss firm manufactures some of the world’s most coveted timepieces and its brand ambassadors include Usain Bolt, Pele and Jose Mourinho.

Police Scotland said the gang ran up a lane near the Arcade’s Buchanan Street entrance before speeding off in a white Volkswagen Golf.

The car, which was stolen hours earlier, was later found abandoned in Castle Street, Townhead, opposite Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

The gang then transferred to a white Vauxhall Combo van and joined the M8 bound for Edinburgh.

Detective Inspector Alasdair Barlow, the officer in charge of the investigation, today urged anyone with information about the raid to come forward.

He said: “Our enquiries are progressing well and we’ve had a very good response from the public, including vital mobile phone footage and excellent CCTV from businesses and public space.

“We now know that the men involved had access to a white Volkswagen Golf hatchback which they used to get away from the scene of the crime, and witness reports say that they drove at excessive speed from Queen Street, up Ingram Street and up to High Street, often being driven on the wrong side of the road.

“However, we also know that they had access to a Vauxhall Combo van.

“It is known at this time that they abandoned the Volkswagen in Castle Street shortly after the robbery and then left in the Vauxhall van, which was last seen driving onto the M8 towards Edinburgh.”

Police have also established that the getaway car was stolen in East Lothian just hours before the robbery.

Barlow added: “We have identified the Volkswagen Golf as one which had previously been stolen from an address in Haddington in the early hours of the 24th September.

“I would like to speak to anyone in the Haddington area who may have seen a white Volkswagen Golf being driven in the area prior to the robbery.

“Similarly, I’d like to speak to anyone who may have seen a Vauxhall Combo or the Volkswagen being driven in the Glasgow area just prior to the robbery and just after.”

A breakdown of the gang’s haul, released yesterday (TUES), revealed it includes a Hublot Big Bang Rose Gold Automatic worth £23,000 and a Hublot Big Bang Diamond Bezel which retails at £16,400.

The total value of the stolen watches is £198.001.

A security guard sustained a leg injury during the raid, which was staged at 12.50pm last Wednesday.

Video footage posted by witnesses on YouTube captured the masked men running through the arcade in a cloud of smoke, which was set off as part of the arcade's security system.

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Pictures taken by stunned onlookers also showed men in balaclavas fleeing the scene carrying weapons and holdalls.

Rox, Mappin and Webb, Laing the Jeweller and Lewis Grant were targeted by the gang.

Some display windows were smashed but the thieves only managed to gain access to Rox, where they grabbed the watches before running off.

The four men are about 5ft 8in, of slim build and were all wearing dark clothing.

The popular arcade in the city centre houses more than 30 jewellers and diamond merchants.

Anyone with information is asked to contact CID at Pollok Police Office on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.