03 / 10
Diamond necklace stolen from Vienna museum
Police are seeking two men after a historic diamond necklace was taken from a Vienna exhibition.
What happened
Two men entered Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts as visitors on Thursday, broke a display case and took a diamond necklace linked to Egypt’s Queen Nazli. Police released camera images and asked for help identifying them. The necklace was displayed in a Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition, which later reopened.
Numbers
- 673 diamondsDiamonds set in the necklace
- Over 200 caratsTotal weight of its diamonds
- $4.3 millionPrevious auction sale price — Sold about a decade earlier
Questions
- What was the necklace’s royal link?
- Van Cleef & Arpels made it for Egypt’s former royal family, and Queen Nazli wore it at her daughter’s wedding.
- How are police pursuing the suspects?
- They released surveillance images, reviewed cameras inside and around the museum, and took accounts from people who were in the gallery.
- Why does intact recovery matter?
- Coverage notes concern that separating the diamonds for illegal sale could erase the piece’s design and historical value.
- What did the museum do afterward?
- The museum temporarily closed the exhibition, then reopened it after a security review with police found conditions for safe operation.
- How unusual is this in Vienna?
- It is Vienna’s biggest art theft since a Cellini sculpture was taken from another museum and recovered three years later.
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The catch
Police have not identified the suspects or confirmed whether the theft was commissioned.