Thieves steal 600-diamond necklace from Vienna museum in broad daylight
The more than 200-carat necklace was worn by Queen Nazli in 1939 for the marriage of her daughter to the future Shah of Iran
An international manhunt has been launched for two men accused of stealing a diamond-studded necklace containing more than 600 diamonds from a museum in Vienna after entering the exhibition as visitors.
Police said the suspects smashed a glass display case at the Vienna Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on Thursday afternoon and escaped with the platinum-and-diamond necklace, which is estimated to be worth more than $4 million.
The jewellery, created for Egypt’s former royal family, was being displayed as part of an exhibition dedicated to luxury jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels, which is scheduled to run at MAK until September.
The theft adds to a growing list of high-profile museum robberies across Europe in recent months.
Vienna police have released images of the two unmasked suspects captured by surveillance cameras and are appealing to the public for information that could help identify or locate them.
Authorities also said one of the men was believed to have been carrying what appeared to be a genuine firearm during the robbery.
After taking the necklace, the suspects reportedly escaped in the direction of Vienna Stadtpark, located south of the museum.
The necklace, which contains more than 200 carats of diamonds, was famously worn by Queen Nazli in 1939 during the wedding of her daughter, Fawzia, to Iran’s future Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
MAK Director-General Lilli Hollein said the theft of such a valuable piece had deeply affected the museum.
She said the institution had worked closely with Van Cleef & Arpels to develop a dedicated security plan for the exhibition and had taken all necessary precautions.
Hollein added that museum staff remained calm and followed established procedures during the incident, despite the presence of an alleged armed robber. No injuries were reported.
She said MAK had also conducted a comprehensive review of its security arrangements before the exhibition opened, particularly in response to a number of major museum thefts in recent years.
The Vienna robbery occurred on the same day that a major collection of prehistoric jewellery and artefacts was stolen from a museum in Spain.
Earlier this month, four Renaissance paintings were reported stolen from a museum in Sicily, while three works by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth millions of euros were taken from a museum in Parma earlier in the year.
The incidents follow a daring daylight robbery at the Louvre in Paris last October, when a masked gang escaped with priceless jewellery.
The series of thefts has intensified concerns about security at European museums and other cultural institutions.
Europol has warned that museum robberies are becoming increasingly aggressive, with criminals increasingly using force and violence. The agency said the trend could point to the involvement of new organised criminal networks.
The stolen Vienna necklace was designed for Egypt’s former royal family and was worn by Queen Nazli at her daughter Fawzia’s 1939 wedding to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Van Cleef & Arpels has described the piece as a “triumph of white jewellery”, with its diamonds weighing more than 200 carats in total.
The necklace was valued at between $3.6 million and $4.6 million when it was auctioned about a decade ago.
Police have deployed dog units across Vienna and Lower Austria, while forensic investigators examine evidence and security camera footage in an effort to track down the suspects.
Despite the theft, the MAK exhibition reopened on Friday without the missing necklace.
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