Van Cleef necklace theft: Vienna museum wing reopens

The wing of Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts where a 200-carat Van Cleef and Arpels necklace was stolen reopened hours after the museum said the exhibition would remain closed until further notice.

Austrian police said two men bought tickets to enter the MAK museum before smashing a glass display case with a hammer on Thursday, August 27, taking the platinum and diamond necklace and fleeing in an unknown direction. Police said the men were not wearing masks and were clearly visible on surveillance cameras.

Austrian media said the necklace, set with 673 precious stones, was worth several million dollars. The MAK museum confirmed the theft and said it would not comment while the investigation was under way.

The necklace was part of an exhibition devoted to Van Cleef and Arpels. About 500 pieces had been on display since June, and the exhibition is scheduled to end on September 27. AFP saw the smashed display case covered with a blue panel, with no notice on it explaining the theft.

The stolen piece was designed for the former Egyptian royal family and was worn by Queen Nazli in 1939 for the marriage of her daughter Faiza to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the future Shah of Iran. Van Cleef and Arpels described the necklace on its website as a “triumph of white jewellery”. The company did not immediately comment.

The theft is the latest in a series of high-profile museum thefts in Europe. Thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris in October and escaped with jewellery worth $102 million, and museums in Spain and Italy have also reported major thefts or recoveries of stolen works in recent days.