Police Foil Bid to Steal Queen of Egypt's $5.8m Diamond Necklace

By John Jeffay / August 02, 2021 / www.idexonline.com / Article Link

(IDEX Online) - French police foiled an audacious bid by thieves to blow up glass cases at the city's Museum of Natural History (pictured) and steal a 217-ct necklace made for the Queen of Egypt.The $5.8m piece is among than 500 items in the Gems exhibition, which includes minerals, gemstones and objets d'art from the museum's collection, together with over 200 jewels by Van Cleef & Arpels. Police acting on a tip-off arrested three men detonating explosives in a forest outside the capital to prepare for the heist, according to a report in Le Parisien newspaper.The necklace, which contains 673 diamonds, was made by the French jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels for Queen Nazli in 1939, was sold at auction by Sotheby's in 2015 for $5.8m.She divorced and later fled to the USA after Egypt's monarchy was overthrown in 1952 and sold her jewelry collections when she fell on hard times.

Recent News

Gold stocks weaker but outperform slump in other sectors

October 13, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

West Africa-focussed Robex and PDI to merge

October 13, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

Gold stocks outperform equity market gains

October 06, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

Most major producers rise but TSXV gold mixed

October 06, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

Platinum, palladium, copper gain on green China, supply constraints

September 29, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com
See all >
Share to Youtube Share to Facebook Facebook Share to Linkedin Share to Twitter Twitter Share to Tiktok