Thieves smash display case, steal diamond necklace from Vienna museum exhibition
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Thieves smash display case, steal diamond necklace from Vienna museum exhibition
Thieves steal diamond necklace with 673 diamonds from Vienna museum in broad daylight
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Two men stole a platinum and diamond necklace worth millions from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts on Thursday, Austrian police said. The suspects purchased tickets, smashed a display case with a hammer, and fled with the Van Cleef & Arpels piece, which features 673 diamonds totaling over 200 carats .
One of the thieves carried a firearm, but no injuries were reported. Surveillance footage captured the unmasked men, and police released the images. The necklace was part of a temporary exhibition dedicated to Van Cleef & Arpels, the French luxury jeweler, and had previously been worn by Egypt’s Queen Nazli at her daughter’s 1939 wedding to Iran’s future shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi .
The museum confirmed the theft but declined to comment on the investigation or the necklace’s value. Sotheby’s had appraised the piece at several million euros in 2015, according to Austrian public radio .
The heist follows a string of violent museum thefts across Europe. On Wednesday, thieves stole the Villena Treasure—a Bronze Age hoard of 66 gold, silver, and meteorite iron artifacts—from a museum in Spain. The 3,000-year-old collection, valued at approximately €1.2 million, was taken in under four minutes despite multiple security layers, local officials said .
Europol recently warned that museum thefts in Europe are growing more aggressive, with perpetrators using sledgehammers, explosives, and firearms to break in and intimidate staff. Earlier this month, four 15th-century works by Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum in Messina, Italy. In October 2025, masked thieves took priceless jewelry from the Louvre in Paris .
In Madrid, police dismantled a gang of five suspects accused of 15 robberies, including a May heist of €73,000 in cosmetics from a logistics company in Alcorcón. The group used stolen vehicles, including a Porsche Cayenne, and altered license plates to evade detection. Authorities recovered four stolen cars worth over €150,000 .
The MAK exhibition, featuring 500 pieces from Van Cleef & Arpels and the museum’s collection, remains closed pending further notice. The display case where the necklace was held has been obscured .
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Articles
Colier regal cu 673 de diamante, furat în plină zi dintr-un muzeu din Viena. Hoții au cumpărat bilete și au spart vitrina cu un ciocan Un colier excepţional Van Cleef & Arpels, realizat din diamante montate pe platină, având peste 200 de carate şi compus din 673 de diamante, a fost furat joi, în plină zi, dintr-un muzeu din Viena, a anunţat Poliţia austriacă, citată de AFP.
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