John Daley couldn't figure it out - was the Globe slowly unraveling some saga of international intrigue or some connection to a presidential candidate? The truth might be more prosaic - the jeweler owes the Globe $1 million (and $29 million to other creditors).

The company's assets will be auctioned off. Globe article here; Herald article here; National Jeweler Network coverage here.

If you have a watch there for repair, this would be a good time to ask for it back, before it becomes a recoverable asset for the company's creditors.

In what is sure to be the first of many such stories, Charles Bandes reports that Alpha Omega's sudden closing means he can't get the watch he'd brought there for repairs:

A couple weeks ago I brought one of my favorite watches to them for repair. My sister bought it for me about fifteen years ago when she was visiting Switzerland as a student. It's nothing fancy, and it isn't particularly valuable, but it is important to me - my first "nice" watch, a meaningful gift from Annie, and something I've had for so long that it feels like part of me. ... Without warning, AO seems to have vanished completely. The store is shuttered, the phone lines are dead, the corporate office mailbox is not accepting voicemail. And I am so upset. I want my watch back. And I want to know what is going on - how could an institution like this just suddenly disappear? How could they abscond with items in their repair department? ...

No, not Jared, unfortunately. Bostonista reports that Raman Handa, owner of Alpha Omega jewelers, has uprooted his family and fled the U.S. for India, leaving behind:

Four stores, what must be millions of dollars worth of inventory, confused employees, and even the family dog. ...

And, apparently, some tangled finances.