Two unmasked men bought tickets to the Vienna Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) before smashing a display case and stealing a 200-carat platinum necklace encrusted with 673 diamonds, in the latest brazen European museum heist.
The two men were caught on camera and attacked at around opening time on Thursday afternoon. The police stated that one of the assailants was suspected of possessing a gun-like object. After robbing the necklace, the two men escaped towards the Stadtpark area in Vienna.
The stolen Van Cleef & Arpels piece once belonged to Queen Nazli of Egypt, who wore it at the 1939 wedding of her daughter Fawzia to Iran’s then crown prince, Mohammad Reza Phalavi, who later became shah.
“The necklace is a true masterpiece of white jewellery” and was auctioned for $4.3 million at Sotheby’s in New York in 2015.
“Lotti Hollein [general director of MAK] said the robbery has hit us hard, and she underscored that all the precautions have been made, particularly taking into consideration all the incidents at other famous museums in recent years.”
This robbery is part of a disturbing pattern that is prevalent across Europe. Earlier in October, robbers robbed the famous Louvre Museum of Paris in broad daylight and ran off with jewels valued at €88 million. Just this week, the famous Treasure of Villena, which is considered to be one of the significant Bronze Age gold pieces, was robbed from a Spanish museum.
Europol has warned that museum thefts are “becoming increasingly aggressive, with a shift towards violent and forceful methods,” indicating that there is “involvement of new criminal networks.”
The exhibition has since reopened, though the necklace remains missing as Austrian police continue their international manhunt.
2026-08-29 22:20:00
