Cartier Paris Robbed of Million Dollar Diamond Ring
How funny. As in funny weird. Cartier has just been robbed of a €635k diamond ring (about 900,000 American dollars or 1.1 Million Australian dollars) by a couple posing as Arab tourists. Read about it here on Yahoo France (in French) Apparently they did the old switcheroo - asked to look at an expensive ring and then substituted it when the salesperson was distracted. The funny thing is that I was trying to make a short film on exactly the same thing.
Here's a Babelfish translation of the Yahoo page - much funnier this way -
A ring of 635.000 euros flown “by trick” at CartierA ring estimated at 635.000 euros was stolen “by trick” Friday at Cartier in Paris, one learned Wednesday from police source. The Repression brigade of banditism (BRB) was seized by the investigation.
According to the first elements collected by the police officers, a couple of alleged tourists Quataris presented Friday towards 16:00 in the Cartier store located street François 1st in VIIIe district. The woman was in particular vêtue of a dress traditional and capped with a veil.
The couple required to see several jewels of a great value. Benefitting from the carelessness of the saleswoman, they succeeded in subtilizing an invaluable ring equipped with a diamond of 5,5 carats by replacing it by false. A flight called “by trick” discovered later by the persons in charge of the shop whereas the shadies were already far.
I like that last bit "the shadies were already far". I bet they were. I wonder if they took off on the free Velib bikes like we were talking about using for our movie. Have a look at this test clip below.
Fear of Falling: Episode One from wallyworld on Vimeo.
Malcolm Lambe
There is an excellent resource on famous diamonds here at Gemnation;)
This is the Hope diamond.
a 45.52 carat blue diamond set as a pendant with 16 white diamonds surrounding it, and a chain of 45 white diamonds.The French merchant traveller, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, purchased a 112 carat diamond. This diamond was somewhat triangular in shape and crudely cut. Its color was described by Tavernier as a "beautiful violet".
Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668. In 1791, after an attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to flee France, the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were turned over to the government, but during a week-long looting of the crown jewels in September of 1792, the French Blue diamond was stolen.
In 1812 a deep blue diamond matching the French Blue's description was documented as being in the possession of the London diamond merchant, Daniel Eliason. Strong evidence indicates that the stone was acquired by King George IV of England. At his death, in 1830, the king's debts were so enormous that the blue diamond was likely sold through private channels.
The diamond's next owner was Henry Philip Hope, from whom the diamond takes its name.
Following the death of Henry Philip Hope in 1839, and after much litigation, the diamond passed to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and ultimately to the nephew's grandson Lord Francis Hope. In 1902 Lord Francis Hope sold the stone to help pay off his debts. It was sold to a London dealer who quickly sold it to Joseph Frankels & Sons of New York City, who retained the stone in New York until they, in turn, needed cash. The diamond was next sold to Selim Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. It did not sell at the auction but was sold soon after to C.H. Rosenau and then resold to Pierre Cartier that same year.
In 1910 the Hope diamond was shown to Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, of Washington D.C., at Cartier's while on her honeymoon in Paris. The diamond was reset and taken to the U.S. where it was later mounted as a headpiece on a three-tiered circlet of large white diamonds. Sometime later it became the pendant on a diamond necklace as we know it today. Mrs. McLean's flamboyant ownership of the stone lasted until her death in 1947.
In 1949, Harry Winston purchased Mrs. McLean's entire jewelry collection, including the Hope diamond, from her estate.
For the next 10 years the Hope diamond was shown at many exhibits and charitable events worldwide by Harry Winston Inc. On November 10, 1958, they donated the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, and almost immediately the great blue stone became its premier attraction.
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