Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** This article examines the 12 largest jewelry heists of the past decade, with a notable concentration in two countries. The recent Cannes heist, valued at over €100 million, may top the list.
The 12 Largest Jewelry Heists of the Last 10 Years
The heist that occurred on Sunday in Cannes could rank highly, perhaps even first: and these crimes have taken place primarily in two countries.
On Sunday, July 28, an armed man stole numerous jewelry pieces on display at the Hotel Carlton in Cannes, France. The hotel is located along the Croisette, the boulevard that runs along the city’s coastline. According to the latest estimates from investigators, precious items worth over 100 million euros were stolen. The estimate was based on the inventory of jewelry exhibited by the jeweler Leviev. In just a few minutes, the perpetrator collected items, bracelets, and other valuables, stuffed them into a bag, and fled.
The investigators’ estimate makes the Hotel Carlton jewelry heist one of the largest in the last hundred years. The news agency AFP has compiled a list of the most significant jewelry heists of the past ten years, which the Cannes heist may soon join.
– **February 15-16, 2003**: In the diamond district of Antwerp, Belgium, between 120 and 160 safe deposit boxes were looted at the Diamond Center, with a value of approximately 100 million euros. The alarm system failed.
– **December 4, 2008**: Three men stole gems totaling 85 million euros belonging to jeweler Harry Winston in Paris, France. After extensive investigation, 80% of the stolen gems were recovered the following year.
– **February 25, 2005**: A KLM airline truck was looted at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Diamonds and jewelry worth a total of 75 million euros were stolen.
– **August 6, 2009**: At Graff Diamonds in central London, UK, jewelry worth over 46 million euros was stolen.
– **February 18, 2013**: A group of men disguised as police officers carried out a spectacular robbery on one of the runways at Brussels Airport in Belgium. They stole diamonds worth over 38 million euros.
– **March 5, 2004**: Three Serbs, members of an international ring of thieves known as the “Pink Panthers,” stole jewelry worth over 22 million euros in Japan.
– **March 5, 2007**: At a bank in Antwerp, Belgium, diamonds worth 21 million euros were stolen.
– **July 13, 2009**: Three men stole jewelry worth 15 million euros in an armed robbery at a Cartier boutique in Cannes.
– **May 28, 2010**: In a town near Marseille, France, armed men kidnapped a wholesale dealer and his family, obtaining 7 million euros in jewelry for their release.
– **September 20, 2002**: Two armed men stole over 3 million euros worth of gems from a jewelry store on the Croisette in Cannes, France.
– **May 23, 2013**: A necklace by Swiss jeweler de Grisogono, valued at two million euros, was stolen during one of the parties for the Cannes Film Festival in France.
– **August 30, 2005**: A group of “Pink Panther” thieves stole watches and jewelry worth two million euros from the Julian jeweler in Saint-Tropez, France.
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diamonds – france – jewelry heists – jewelry