The jeweller sustained a fractured eye socket during the raid, which took place in broad daylight at 10am on August 10.
Detectives have arrested and charged a 17-year-old man, an 18-year old-man and a 28- year-old woman in relation to the crime.
The two male offenders entered the store on Merrylands Road in Merrylands wearing balaclavas. They punched the 60-year-old male owner who was in the store by himself and escaped in a black Toyota Rav 4, driven by their female accomplice.
The robbers then went to a nearby jewellery store to sell a portion of the jewellery for melting down. The jeweller became suspicious when the gold was handed over in a sock, so he intentionally gave the robbers a low valuation price to make them leave the store.
Police said that, in part, they were only able to identify the offenders thanks to “exceptional” CCTV footage in both stores. Although the two males were wearing balaclavas in the first store, they wore almost identical clothing in the second store, which gave police sufficient evidence to assert that they were the same people.
Adam Phillips, Inspector at the Merrylands Police Station, told Jeweller that they were very lucky to apprehend the offenders.
“The robbers would have gotten away had it not been for the fact that it was a black car we were familiar with and the excellent CCTV footage,” he said.
He called it a “brazen attack, rather than anything significantly well planned”.
Despite the arrest, the jewellery has yet to be recovered.
Phillips warned that jewellers, especially independents who work alone, need to be vigilant.
He advised: “Jewellers should try and improve their CCTV footage – it is very useful, as this case showed. They should also make sure their jewellery is locked away, let potential robbers know that they have good CCTV footage so it can be a deterrent and ensure the hard drive for the CCTV is safely stored so the robbers can’t run away with it or damage it.”
The offenders face up to 20 years in prison due to the seriousness of the crime.