Austrian police are searching for two suspects who stole a diamond necklace associated with Egypt’s former royal family from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts on Thursday, according to local media reports.
The two men reportedly entered the museum as ordinary visitors at around 2pm before smashing a glass display case and taking the historic platinum necklace. Several witnesses were present at the time, Austrian public broadcaster ORF reported, citing police.
Investigators believe the theft was targeted, with the suspects apparently knowing which piece they intended to steal.
The necklace contains 673 diamonds weighing more than 200 carats in total. It was commissioned for the Egyptian royal family and was worn by Queen Nazli of Egypt at the 1939 wedding of her daughter, Princess Fawzia, to Iran’s then-Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who later became shah.
The piece was sold for nearly $4.3 million at a New York auction in 2015, according to Sotheby’s.
Vienna police have released photographs and descriptions of the two suspects as part of an ongoing manhunt. Both were described as slim men with dark hair and beards, approximately 170 to 175 centimetres tall. They were reportedly dressed in black outerwear and dark sneakers with white soles.
The pair fled in an unknown direction following the theft, prompting a significant police deployment across central Vienna. The Federal Criminal Police Office’s cultural heritage investigation unit has also joined the inquiry.
No one was injured during the incident, the museum said.
The museum remains open, but its “Glanzstücke” (“Masterpieces”) exhibition, from which the necklace was taken, has been temporarily closed.
The exhibition contains around 500 objects, including more than 300 pieces from French luxury jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels and more than 200 items from the museum’s own collection.