673-Diamond Necklace Worth €3.7 Million Stolen from Vienna Museum
Thieves smashed a display case at Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts and stole a historic "Van Cleef & Arpels" necklace. The jewel belonged to Egyptian Queen Nazli and was sold at auction in 2015 for $4.3 million.
Diamond Necklace That Once Belonged to Egyptian Queen Stolen from Vienna
A valuable diamond necklace created by Parisian jewellers "Van Cleef & Arpels" has gone missing during a theft at Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), according to LRT. Police have released a photograph of the stolen ornament.
According to information published on the museum's website, the stolen exhibit is a royal neck ornament set with 673 diamonds with a combined weight exceeding 200 carats. In 2015, the necklace was sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York for nearly $4.3 million (€3.7 million).
The MAK confirmed in a brief statement that the theft occurred during the jewellery exhibition "Glanzstücke". Since the beginning of June, the exhibition has displayed more than 300 objects from the "Van Cleef & Arpels" collection. The museum stated that it would provide no further information about the ongoing investigation. No people were injured in the incident.
According to police, two as yet unidentified men smashed the display case during visiting hours of the exhibition, stole the exhibit and fled with their haul.
The necklace also holds historical significance: it once belonged to Egyptian Queen Nazli, who wore this ornament in 1939 at the wedding of her daughter Fauziya to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, then the heir to the Iranian throne and who would soon become the Shah.
Source: LRT