Egyptian queen’s 673-diamond necklace stolen from Vienna museum in brazen daytime heist

A platinum Art Deco necklace commissioned in 1938 by Queen Nazli of Egypt and set with 673 baguette-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds was stolen in a daytime heist at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on 27 August. Police say two unmasked suspects bought tickets, entered the gallery, smashed the display case with a hammer, and fled; Interpol has added the necklace to its stolen-artworks database, and an international manhunt is underway. The necklace was on view in “Glanzstücke: Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewellery x Masterpieces from the MAK Collection” (running until 27 September), an exhibition of around 500 objects, including more than 300 from Van Cleef & Arpels and more than 200 from MAK’s collection; the show reopened the day after a brief closure. Sotheby’s sold the necklace for $140,000 in 1975 and again in 2015 for $4.3m, and MAK director Lilli Hollein said the theft “hit us hard,” while Queen Nazli’s great-granddaughter Fawzia Farouk posted on 29 August expressing “profound sorrow.”

Read the full article at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events