10 Most Notorious Jewelry Heists of All Time: From $7M-$136M

No matter how much we love expensive jewelry, it is hard to admit that it is getting all the jewelry we like. It is not easy. These beautiful blings can cost up to a million dollars, and it's time to suck it up; we all can't afford it. Except for a few chosen people who an enough to get a feel of what it is like to wear a piece of multi-million jewelry for a night, Sofia Vergara's 7 million dollar jewelry in the Emmy's is a classic example. However, some people won't lose sleep over it; they can get the jewelry they want without spending millions. These crazy desires of people lead to the most notorious jewelry heists of all time. These jewelry crimes orchestrated by the most brilliant jewels are for the books.

A few days ago, a news report showed a man and a woman wanted on several jewelry heists in the Southern states. This tandem has already amassed hundreds of thousands of jewelry, and the emergence of jewelry theft in movies and real life makes it look like a trend. Today, we'll tackle some of the most clever jewelry theft crimes. We're just not talking hundreds of dollars here; we're talking millions, hundreds of millions. If you can't get it, shoot it—unfortunately, no weird masks like these in these jewelry heists.

We all might think the museum is the safest place for jewelry because security men and CCTV cameras everywhere can easily catch a jewelry heist. Perhaps that was precisely the thought of the people in the Museon, a Museum of Science in the Netherlands when they had a display exhibit called Diamond: From Rough Rock to Gem.

We can't help but wonder how these jewelry thieves could have run away with $12 million worth of jewelry without being caught by the guards and the security cameras. Included in the stolen jewelry were gems from royal collections that were carefully hidden in 28 alarmed cabinets, and neither of these alarms started enabling the jewelry thieves to escape immediately. The jewelry heist wasn't discovered until the day after the exhibit closed. 

The sweet talk could lead to disaster; it is a tale as old as time, and we couldn't count the victims who fell into this trap. The same happened in a jewelry heist in a  bank in Antwerp District, one of the world's most famous and rich diamond districts. Hundreds of diamond dealers flock to the place, and diamond trading is at i. One innocent-looking, sweet-talking man in his 50's, frequented the ABN Amro bank in 2007.

According to his passport, he was Carlos Hector Flomenbaum from Argentina. People described him as a charming, thoughtful man, often giving bank staff expensive gifts. He gained enough of the bank's trust to access one diamond vault, cleaned off some shelves, and walked away with $28 million of uncut diamonds. When the heist was discovered, it was found out that the passport the man owned was also stolen.

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When six robbers broke into the Brinks Mat Warehouse, the original plan was to steal cash worth $3 million. In the turn of events, the robbers could amass ten billion in gold with a total value of $26 million. Back in 1983, that was a pretty significant amount. This jewelry heist was a case of the inside job as it was found that security guard Anthony Black assisted the robbers in their entrance to the main room. The robbers were caught, and the seven billion of gold were covered. Mastermind Brian Robinson was later imprisoned together with the gang leader McAvoy. Security Guard Black was also sentenced to six years of imprisonment. Unfortunately, the three billion in gold was never recovered.

The fourth entry to our top 10 jewelry heists in history happened in the Damiani Showroom in Milan, Italy, in 2008. It was a beautiful day, and the entire boutique was preparing for a jewelry display later. Even before the show pushed through, a band of jewelry thieves entered the showroom, tied the staff, and took $32 million worth of jewelry.

It turned out that these thieves used a tunnel they made themselves. Weeks before the jewelry heist, the neighborhood reported a suspicious drilling sound from the house beside the Damiani Showroom, a report the staff ignored. Now, what did we say about regrets? Fortunately, some of the top pieces from the jewelry house were spared. Thanks to the stars who loaned some jewelry pieces for the Oscars Red Carpet.

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All these jewelry heists are products of either of three things: disguise, careful planning, and a pinch of luck. The jewelry heist in the Brussels Airport was a combination of three. It was bizarre, and it caused a puzzle until now. It happened when eight men disguised as airport policemen casually stopped a plane bound for Zurich. It was no ordinary plane carrying some of the most expensive jewelry. These men hauled all the bags in their van and drove away. The total value of the jewelry they have taken is estimated at $50 million. Only a few jewels have been recovered from the stolen group. 

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This jewelry heist is considered one of the most brazen crimes ever. How could a gang of robbers walk simply into a hotel, open fire, and steal assorted jewelry with a total value of $60 million? This scene might sound impossible, but it happened in the Carlton Hotel when a band of diamond thieves known as the Pink Panthers opened fire in the room just before closing, took some top jewelry, and went away without a trace. These clever robbers, it was later found out, were shooting blanks. Perhaps they have no intention to kill, to scare. But these jewelry thieves got away with $60 million; who could top that for a brazen jewelry crime?

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I say we should give props (no pun intended) to these men who went the extra mile to ensure they will get something from their heist. The two men, Solomon Beyene and Craig Underwood, participated in perhaps one of the largest jewelry heists in British history. These two thieves entered the famous jewelry house with guns under their crisp suits. These two were believed to be associated with the notorious jewelry robbers named "The Pink Panthers."

In total, they got $65 million worth of jewelry. These two guys were too confident to do the crime despite the CCTV's presence, thanks to their short visit to a makeup artist who added prosthetics to their faces so they could be unrecognizable. However, these two thieves were not as clever as they thought. They left their phone in their getaway car, allowing officials to identify them. 

Another jewelry heist attributed to the infamous Pink Panthers group. They have used several tactics from the past, like shooting guns on a blank and using prosthetics to avoid being recognized. Now, they tried another style. They entered the famous jewelry house, Harry Winston Store, in Paris in 2008, disguising themselves as women. Perhaps their cover-up wasn't so good that they immediately threatened everyone inside with their handguns. It was puzzling to the store, but these diamond thieves seemed to know their way around the store, knowing where the safes and lockboxes were. It took them twenty minutes to clear jewelry pieces with an overall total of $107 million.

Before we get a touch of the world's most beautiful diamonds, almost 80% of these beauties pass into the Antwerp Diamond Center, where major diamond traders do business. In this place, even uncut diamonds have significant price tags. This fact made the Antwerp Diamond Center the perfect place to conduct a diamond heist. Since Antwerp is a prominent place for diamond trading, it is used by diamond thieves.

However, nothing prepared it for the event, considered Antwerp's most famous jewelry heist. In February 2003, a horrendous jewelry crime was discovered: 123 of 160 diamond deposits were emptied. It was found out that this crime took four rigid years of planning and analyzing everything from alarm codes to security. Unfortunately, there's one thing they have not prepared for: the unfortunate traits of their members. It only took a single half-eaten sandwich left by one of the thieves to result in most members locked in jail.

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Perhaps the Carlton Hotel in Cannes has some security upgrading to do. After 21 years, the place fell victim to one of the largest jewelry heists ever done by a single person. Yes, you heard it right. The crime was done solely by a man who entered the store threatening everyone with a pistol and eventually walking away with a suitcase holding jewelry amounting to roughly $136 million. The suspect, a Bosnian Milan Poparic, seems connected to the infamous Pink Panthers. All these jewelry heists prove one thing: a man wants jewelry but doesn't have enough money. But stealing is not justified by that; expensive jewelry pieces are worth their price.

We ensure we don't get into any jewelry heists, so we offer precious jewelry pieces to you at a price you can afford. We also offer huge discounts, so check out our gorgeous collection! Don't sit there waiting. Keep sparkling, darling!