10 Infamous Jewelry Heists
A look at the largest thefts in recent history.
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Oh, My Pearls - Sunday's theft of diamond jewelry in France — estimated at $136 million — appears to be the largest such heist in recent history. Here are some other major examples, compiled from the Associated Press.(Photo: AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
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February 2013 - Some $50 million worth of diamonds from the global diamond center of Antwerp, Belgium, are stolen at the Brussels airport after being loaded on a plane headed to Zurich. Authorities have since detained dozens of people and recovered much of the loot. (In the image, firemen extinguish the burnt out remains of the van used in the heist.)(Photo: Mozkito/Photonews via Getty Images)
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August 2009 - Two elegantly dressed men rob the Graff Diamond Store in London's posh Mayfair district and carry away necklaces, watches, rings and bracelets worth more than 40 million pounds ($62 million at today's exchange rate), according to Scotland Yard.(Photo: PA Photos/Landov)
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December 2008 - Thieves, some dressed as women, steal $118 million in rings, necklaces and luxury watches from the Harry Winston store near the Champs-Elysees in Paris, in what was then France's biggest ever jewelry robbery. A similar robbery had taken place in the same store about a year earlier.(Photo: Maxppp/Landov)
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February 2008 - Masked thieves drill a tunnel into the Damiani showroom in Milan, Italy, making off with an estimated $20 million in gold, diamonds and rubies, though Damiani would not confirm the worth. Nine men were arrested in December in connection with the robbery.(Photo:REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo/Landov)
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