Chopard in jewelery heist

Luxury jeweler Chopard was the victim of a EUR 6.5 million heist at its Paris flagship on Place Vendôme last weekend.

A lone man, who passed himself off as a customer to get through Chopard’s security door, raided the store Saturday afternoon, stealing jewels worth up to 6.5 million euros. The smartly dressed man threatened staff with a gun and ordered them to give him jewels from the window display. However, he didn’t take the whole contents of the shop windows.

While most jewelry stores on Place Vendôme opened for business Monday — a public holiday in France — it was obvious security in the area had been stepped up, as security guards monitored the square amid visiting tourists.

Some stores, notably Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, placed two security guards behind their double security doors. Compagnie Financière Richemont, their Swiss-based parent company, wasn’t immediately available to comment whether additional security measures are being taken.

As French police continue their inquiries into the heist, it’s not yet clear how a lone man posing as a customer managed to outwit the tight security measures, including closed-circuit cameras, deployed by jewelers in the area.

It’s unclear whether the Chopard robbery is linked to the so-called “Pink Panthers” international gang of jewelry thieves, who have bagged loot worth up to $200 million in an estimated 110 attacks on luxury stores in around 20 countries since their first robbery in London’s exclusive Mayfair district in 2003. Two key members of the gang were arrested in Paris last month.

French police said the investigation of the Chopard robbery is still ongoing and declined to provide further details.

Source: Womenswear Daily