Chadstone Melbourne: Masked thief pulls off brazen solo $2million heist at country's largest shopping centre

Cops are musing over whether a brazen $2 million dollar watch-heist was an inside job after a single thief made off with dozens of luxury watches within four minutes. 

A masked man in an orange high-visibility vest with extensive knowledge of the layout of Melbourne's Chadstone Shopping Centre broke in at 2:40am on Sunday. 

It is believed the thief gained entry through a loading dock before making their way to luxury watch retailer Kennedy on the third floor and stealing at least 30 timepieces. 

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said that the offender smashed a number of cases and managed to escape with Rolex and Franck Muller watch sets. 

Extensive CCTV footage captured the burglary and police have said that they will be relying on the video and tipoffs from the public to catch the lone criminal. 

The 185,000 sq m shopping complex is the largest in the southern hemisphere and police believe the thief knew exactly where he was going during the speedy robbery.

Police believe the suspect was familiar with how to get in and which products to take.

There is no suggestion Kennedy staff were involved.

Kennedy specialises in luxury watches and customers typically have to spend years on a waitlist before they are able to get their hands on some pieces. 

The resale price of a Rolex typically sits above 50 per cent of the retail price which could make the profit margin for the thief even higher than the collective $2 million price tag on the watches.