A remarkable Van Cleef & Arpels necklace, crafted from diamonds set in platinum and featuring over 200 carats with 673 precious stones, was stolen on Thursday in broad daylight from a museum in Vienna, according to reports.
Two men, who were captured on the museum’s surveillance cameras, purchased admission tickets before smashing a glass display case with a hammer and fleeing with the jewelry, as stated by Austrian police in a statement released late Thursday night. One of the robbers was armed.
Jewelry Featured in Temporary Exhibition
The Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (MAK) confirmed the theft but stated that they could not provide any details regarding the ongoing investigation at this time. When contacted about the value of the stolen necklace and the identity of its owner, the MAK did not comment further.
According to Austrian public radio, the necklace was appraised at several million euros by Sotheby’s in 2015.
The jewelry was part of a temporary exhibition dedicated to the French house Van Cleef & Arpels, which has been showcased since June 10 and will run until September 27, featuring around 500 pieces, including over 300 from the Van Cleef & Arpels collection and about 200 from the MAK collection.
Necklace Created for Former Egyptian Royal Family
The stolen piece was specifically made for the former Egyptian royal family and was worn by Queen Nazli in 1939 during the marriage of her daughter Fawzia to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who would later become the last Shah of Iran.
The necklace is described on the Van Cleef & Arpels website as “a legendary monochrome piece, representing the triumph of white jewelry.”
It was complemented by a tiara that featured similar semicircular ornaments intertwined with bands of platinum and diamonds, as noted on the same website.
The MAK announced that the exhibition will remain closed until further notice; however, an AFP journalist was able to visit on Friday and noted that the display case where the jewelry was kept had been obscured.
When contacted by AFP, Van Cleef & Arpels had not yet responded to requests for comments on the situation.
Following several high-profile heists in museums across France, the Paris government recommended at the end of July the temporary withdrawal of certain items from display cases until enhanced protection could be ensured.
On Thursday, in Spain, the Villena Treasure, a collection of gold artifacts considered one of the most valuable treasures from the Bronze Age in Europe, was largely stolen from a museum in the southeast of the country.
