Burglars have stolen about $200,000 worth of rings in a brazen hit on a Christchurch jewellery store.

Police believe the offenders gained access through the roof of the Tannery shopping complex.

The burglar, or burglars, stole about 2000 unique rings worth between $50 and $200 each from the La Bu jewellery in the Tannery shopping complex on Sunday morning

"I'm just imagining someone did a lot of scoping before they did the crime," Tannery owner Alasdair Cassels told Fairfax.

"If you looked at how they got in and where they got in, they must have known rather well the layout of the shop."

They ripped off a sheet of corrugated roofing iron and broke through the ceiling above an adjacent store before punching a hole through a wall into La Bu.

"It has happened in the past, it's not unheard of, but we've had a few more lately," Detective Sergeant Damon Wells told Fairfax.

Police were reviewing CCTV footage but it was not yet clear if more than one person was involved.

- additional reporting NZ Herald