Three masked men brandishing hammers have robbed a jewellery shop in broad daylight in the middle of Christchurch, making their getaway in a stolen vehicle.

The brazen bandits carried out the smash and grab just before lunchtime on Monday and were captured on security camera.

Images released by police show three males all disguised in black, armed with hammers and carrying bags for the loot.

The target was a well-known jewellery store, Petersen Jewellers on Papanui Rd in Merivale, near Bealey Ave.

Do or Dye hair salon owner Celine-Marie Lamberton works directly next door to the jewellers and said she was first alerted to the robbery by a loud noise.

"Then I just heard smashing, yelling and screaming," she added.

She said her hairdressing client grabbed her and they went to the back of the shop away from the windows.

"I looked up and this big tall guy - he must have been the last guy because there were three - walking in all covered in black," she said.

One of the offenders holding a hammer was caught on camera inside the store. Photo / NZ Police

Al had black tops and pants, were wearing black sunglasses and gloves and had balaclavas on their heads.

Celine-Marie said she was scared and hid near the basins.

"I got up and I thought... I've got to lock the door... by that stage, it was probably a bit late," she says.

"I got on to the police, I looked on my phone and it was 11.45 I was dialling 111."

Celine-Marie says all she could hear was "yelling, thumping and banging", She reckons the robbers were inside the jewellery shop for "two minutes but felt like 20".

The robbers had smashed the glass cabinets along the main counter and took what they could, with glass everywhere all over the floor.

"I heard that one of them (the owners) grabbed a crowbar, but you just heard smashing and banging and screaming," she said.

Celine-Marie's client told her that the noise sounded like "gunshots" but it was just "smashing and grabbing and thumping".

She said the robbers had parked near a childcare centre and Selwyn House School and used a stolen silver-coloured Mazda Demio as the getaway car.

"They must have had a driver because the three of them jumped in the car and then they went from Merivale Lane onto Papanui Road and screeched around the corner on to Webb Street and took off," she said.

Police confirmed that a number of items had been stolen saying they "are in the early stages of an investigation... including conducting a scene examination."

Cleaning up the mess inside Petersens Jewellery Store following the armed robbery. Photo / Hamish Clark

The owners of the store thanked people for their concern and didn't wish to comment further.

They spent all Monday afternoon with the police and cleaning up the mess left behind.

Police late on Monday released photos of the three assailants taken from CCTV cameras as they entered the jewellery store and "would like to hear from anyone who can identify them".