Greatest Jewelry Heists
Daring jewelry heists have long been immortalized in movies such as Ocean's Eleven, To Catch a Thief, and the Pink Panther series. But what have been some of the greatest real-life jewelry heists?
In 1983, the Brinks Mat Warehouse in Heathrow, England, was robbed of $37 million in gold and $12,000 in diamonds. Armed robbers dressed like security guards entered the warehouse and overtook the actual security staff. It has been suspected that the thieves used inside information due to the sophisticated security system they disabled to enter the vaults. Because of the large quantity of gold that was stolen, it has long been rumored that any gold jewelry purchased in England after 1983 possibly includes Brinks Mat gold from this heist.
Another famous jewelry heist occurred in 1994, when the Carlton Jewelry Store in Cannes, France, was robbed of nearly $60 million of jewels. Three armed men entered the jewelry store in the Carlton Hotel, firing their machine guns in the air. Employees and customers panicked, while the thieves seized $59.4 million worth of jewels and escaped. An interesting note is that there were no bullet holes in the ceiling; the thieves had used blanks!
While these were undoubtedly large scores, they are far surpassed by the theft of more than $100 million in gems from the Antwerp Diamond Center in 2003. Over a weekend, skilled thieves broke into 123 of the Antwerp Diamond Center's 160 vaults, netting more than $100 million of gems and the documents that verified the value of the gems. Several months before the theft, the culprits had rented an office in the Diamond Center to learn the security system and copy the master keys. One crew member was identified, but he has never been charged due to extradition agreements. None of the diamonds have ever been located.
Just slightly edging out the Antwerp theft, in 2009, Harry Winston's Paris store, located near the Champs-Elysees, was robbed by thieves who were dressed in drag. Witnesses said the drag queens knew the employees' names and the location of secret storage units. The men took all the jewelry on display, as well as jewels in the back room, with a total value of $108 million. The same location was robbed of $25 million in gems just a year earlier, making some people believe the same criminals pulled both heists.
In 1983, the Brinks Mat Warehouse in Heathrow, England, was robbed of $37 million in gold and $12,000 in diamonds. Armed robbers dressed like security guards entered the warehouse and overtook the actual security staff. It has been suspected that the thieves used inside information due to the sophisticated security system they disabled to enter the vaults. Because of the large quantity of gold that was stolen, it has long been rumored that any gold jewelry purchased in England after 1983 possibly includes Brinks Mat gold from this heist.
Another famous jewelry heist occurred in 1994, when the Carlton Jewelry Store in Cannes, France, was robbed of nearly $60 million of jewels. Three armed men entered the jewelry store in the Carlton Hotel, firing their machine guns in the air. Employees and customers panicked, while the thieves seized $59.4 million worth of jewels and escaped. An interesting note is that there were no bullet holes in the ceiling; the thieves had used blanks!
While these were undoubtedly large scores, they are far surpassed by the theft of more than $100 million in gems from the Antwerp Diamond Center in 2003. Over a weekend, skilled thieves broke into 123 of the Antwerp Diamond Center's 160 vaults, netting more than $100 million of gems and the documents that verified the value of the gems. Several months before the theft, the culprits had rented an office in the Diamond Center to learn the security system and copy the master keys. One crew member was identified, but he has never been charged due to extradition agreements. None of the diamonds have ever been located.
Just slightly edging out the Antwerp theft, in 2009, Harry Winston's Paris store, located near the Champs-Elysees, was robbed by thieves who were dressed in drag. Witnesses said the drag queens knew the employees' names and the location of secret storage units. The men took all the jewelry on display, as well as jewels in the back room, with a total value of $108 million. The same location was robbed of $25 million in gems just a year earlier, making some people believe the same criminals pulled both heists.