Van Cleef Diamond Necklace Worth Millions Stolen from Vienna Museum

August 30, 2026
By Leah Meirovich

Thieves smashed a display case and grabbed a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace from the collection of Queen Nazli of Egypt at Vienna’s MAK – Museum of Applied Arts on Thursday.

During the heist, two men posing as visitors shattered the glass cabinet, grabbed the necklace and fled, the Vienna police said. Authorities are launching an “extensive search operation,” which includes the use of a tracking dog.

“A national and international manhunt is underway for two men suspected of committing a robbery at a museum in Vienna’s city center yesterday,” police updated Friday. “During the robbery, they allegedly smashed a glass display case with a hammer and stole a valuable piece of jewelry. One of the perpetrators is believed to have been carrying a firearm. The suspects fled on foot towards the Stadtpark (City Park).”

The necklace was part of the Glanzstücke collection featuring high-jewelry pieces from Van Cleef & Arpels. Despite the robbery, the museum remained open to visitors, apart from that exhibition, MAK said.

The stolen necklace, a 1939 Van Cleef piece, features a graduated line of diamonds supporting a flexible bib in the form of a sunburst, centered by an articulated round diamond weighing approximately 6 carats. In total, the necklace bears more than 600 round and baguette-cut diamonds totaling more than 200 carats. Queen Nazli commissioned the necklace, along with a matching tiara, for the wedding of her daughter Fawzia to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, then the Iranian crown prince, who later became shah. The necklace last sold for $4.3 million at the Magnificent Jewels auction at Sotheby’s New York in December 2015.

“Extensive search operations have been launched, involving the Vienna Rapid Response Unit, the Vienna and Lower Austria police dog units, and the Vienna State Criminal Police Office,” the authorities added. “Currently, forensic experts are analyzing the evidence collected and the video footage from security cameras, and further witnesses are being interviewed.”

The heist follows one in July at France’s Musée Lalique, in which an estimated EUR 4 million ($4.6 million) worth of jewelry was stolen, and less than a year after a $102 million heist of crown jewels from the collection of Napolean and Josephine Bonaparte from the Louvre Museum.

Main image: The necklace display at the MAK museum. (Museum of Applied Arts)