$4.3 M. Van Cleef & Arpels Necklace Stolen From Vienna Museum
A platinum Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace valued at $4.3 million was stolen from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on Thursday after two men entered as regular visitors, smashed a display case with a hammer, and fled, according to police and reports including Kronen Zeitung and CBS News. Police said the suspects bought tickets, were not masked, and were clearly captured on surveillance cameras; no one was injured. The necklace contains 673 stones totaling more than 200 carats, was made for Egypt’s royal family, and was worn by Queen Nazli in 1939 at Princess Fawzia’s wedding to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi; it sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2015 for $4.3 million. The theft prompted the indefinite closure of “Glanzstücke,” a June-opening exhibition scheduled to run through September 27 featuring roughly 500 objects (more than 300 from Van Cleef & Arpels and more than 200 from the MAK collection), while Vienna police review footage and search for the suspects.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Museum Scandals, Censorship Clashes, and a Stolen Jewel