Rolex refers to it as the "ultimate" watch — and police say someone stole it from a jeweller in Hamilton last month.

According to a police news release issued today, on the afternoon of July 15, a man walked into Ashley Jewellers at Lime Ridge Mall and said he wanted to buy a high end, platinum watch from Rolex called the "Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona."

Police say the watch is valued at $86,000.

Staff retrieved the watch from a locked safe, and that's when the man grabbed it and bolted, sales associate Matt Ashley told CBC News.

"He must have known we had it beforehand. It's not something you just ask for," said Ashley, whose family owns the business.

A police news release says the man ran from the store into a waiting vehicle. "It is believed the suspect knew the store had this particular watch in stock," the news release reads.

Hamilton police say this man is a suspect in the theft. (Ashley Jewellers)

According to the Rolex website, this particular watch was introduced in 1963, and "designed to meet the demands of professional racing drivers."

"With its highly reliable chronograph and bezel with tachymetric scale, it allows drivers to perfectly measure average speeds up to 400 kilometres or miles per hour, as they choose," the website says.

"An icon eternally joined in name and function to the high-performance world of motor sport."

Ashley said the watch is definitely "not an everyday purchase," and costs so much because it's all platinum, when most Rolex watches are made from steel or gold. A similar steel Rolex costs $15,000, he said.

Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the man and tracking down the stolen watch. Ashley said it is insured, "but we'd still really like to catch the guy."

adam.carter@cbc.ca