A diamond-studded necklace worth around Rs 38 crore was stolen from a museum in Vienna, Austria on Thursday. It is estimated to be worth around Rs 38 crore in Indian rupees. Police have launched a massive operation to trace the two men after CCTV footage showed them running away with it.
According to reports, the necklace was displayed in a specially made glass case at a jewellery exhibition being held at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAA) in Vienna. The accused had bought a ticket to the museum and entered as visitors. Seeing the opportunity, they broke the glass case with a hammer. They also took the necklace and threw it towards a nearby park.
The stolen necklace is associated with the Egyptian royal family. It was made for Queen Nazli of Egypt by a famous luxury jewellery house in France. It contains 673 diamonds. Queen Nazli wore this necklace at the wedding of her daughter Fazia in 1939. There was a lot of talk at the time about a tiara she wore matching the necklace. However, facing financial difficulties towards the end of her life, Queen Nazli sold the necklace in 1970. In 2015, the necklace was sold for about 380 million rupees at an auction held by the famous auction house Sotheby’s in New York. It was then placed in a jewelry exhibition held at the Museum of Applied Arts.
