Vienna Museum Heist: A historic necklace once worn by Egypt’s Queen Nazli has been stolen from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts in a brazen daytime robbery.
The platinum necklace, featuring 673 diamonds and weighing more than 200 carats, was created by French jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels for Egypt’s former royal family. Queen Nazli wore the piece in 1939 at the wedding of her daughter, Princess Fawzia, to Iran’s Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who later became shah.
According to Austrian police, two men entered the museum during opening hours and posed as ordinary visitors. They bought tickets before entering an exhibition featuring hundreds of Van Cleef & Arpels creations.
The suspects then smashed the necklace’s glass display case with a hammer, seized the jewellery and escaped on foot.
Police said surveillance cameras captured the men, who did not cover their faces. Investigators described them as slim, dark-haired and bearded. They were reportedly wearing black clothes and dark trainers with white soles.
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Authorities have launched a major search operation and are using a police tracking dog as part of the investigation. Detectives are also examining whether the robbery was specifically targeted and whether an organised criminal group could be involved.
The necklace’s value has added to the significance of the theft. Reports estimate it at around $5 million, while the piece was reportedly sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York in 2015 for about $4.3 million.
The theft has also renewed concerns about security at European museums, which have faced a number of high-profile robberies involving valuable jewellery, artworks and historical artefacts.
The necklace had been displayed as part of a major Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition at the Vienna museum. Its theft has now turned what was intended to be a celebration of luxury jewellery into a major criminal investigation.
