Daylight robbery at Vienna museum sees $4 million diamond necklace stolen
Two men posing as visitors smashed a glass case at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts on Thursday and fled with a diamond necklace valued at over $4 million, prompting a police hunt.
On Thursday, two unidentified men entered the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna under the guise of exhibition attendees and shattered a glass showcase with a hammer, stealing a platinum necklace studded with 673 diamonds and worth more than $4 million. Police released surveillance images of the duo, noting that one was believed to be armed, and launched an extensive search involving dog units. The necklace, designed by Van Cleef & Arpels for Queen Nazli of Egypt in the 1930s, features a six-carat central stone surrounded by a sunburst of smaller diamonds and was sold at a 2015 Sotheby’s auction for nearly $4.3 million before being loaned to the museum.
The exhibition was briefly closed, later reopened, and a protective panel now covers the damaged case while metal detectors have been installed. Interpol has entered the necklace into its stolen-art registry as Austrian authorities continue the manhunt.
Why it matters
The theft highlights vulnerabilities in museum security and involves a historic, high-value jewel linked to royalty.
In this story
