A necklace with a diamond valued at millions of euros: possible loot of the thieves of the Maastricht fair

Dutch police have released the two suspects arrested in connection with the robbery that took place on Tuesday at the 35th edition of the Maastricht art fair (Tefaf). They are two Belgian citizens, aged 22 and 26, respectively. Discarded both, the agents are still looking for the four people who allegedly took a loot of jewelry in an armed robbery. Although there are still many doubts about what was stolen, the Dutch press points to one piece in particular: a pearl and emerald necklace from which a yellow diamond valued at several million euros hangs. It was exhibited at the British gallery Symbolic & Chase and is presented as the most valuable gem of the meeting. Tefaf spokesmen have declined to confirm or deny this point, but the assaulted jewelry store has all its funds documented, which makes it difficult to sell. However, stolen jewelery is often disassembled or recarved to avoid suspicion.

The allegedly stolen necklace is the work of American designer Joël Arthur Rosenthal, one of the best known of his trade and nicknamed “the Fabergé of our era”, after the famous Russian jeweler, author of the famous gemstone eggs that are reminiscent of those of Easter and were commissioned by the tsars. What happened in Tefaf, which closes today, Thursday, has led the organizers to thoroughly review the security measures applied to a meeting that offers more than 20,000 pieces, many at millionaire prices. “For now, we cannot know if the thieves had inside help. Although there were several raiders inside the fair, there may have been more than four. Everything is being investigated,” explains Bart Drenth, interim CEO of Tefaf, in a telephone conversation. For his part, Arthur Brand, nicknamed “the Indiana Jones of art”, due to his experience with stolen works, indicates that these acts are due to “lucky amateurs, or true professionals, and it is always easier to steal jewelry than a painting ”. “The usual thing is that these types of thieves visit the crime scene first. It is also possible that the mace used and the weapon that they appeared to be carrying had been introduced while the fair itself was being set up. We have to find out.”

The Maastricht fair opened to the public on Saturday with great enthusiasm, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Three days after the opening, the harmony of an appointment that seems to run almost in slow motion was broken by the ferocity of the robbery perpetrated. Four men, wearing similar jackets and caps, arrived in front of the Symbolic & Chase windows and one of them hit the armored windows with a sledgehammer until opening several holes through which to extract the jewelry. “It was a brutal robbery, which has caused a deep impact, especially among eyewitnesses, but now the situation is normal and calm. The appointment has gone ahead and we will certainly update the protocol applied this year”, continues Drenth.

Last Friday, on the day reserved for the press and special clients and visitors chosen by the management, the security personnel asked that the bags be opened and controlled the entrances and exits of the premises. However, there were no scanners in sight to conduct a more thorough search. Brand emphasizes that the armored glass of jewelers “is designed to resist and give time for the alarms to sound, but they have to show the jewels with precision, and that balance is difficult to achieve.”

In the images of the assault, broadcast in a video that circulated on Twitter, one of the thieves can be seen hitting the window for some time without anyone stopping him. “You have to keep in mind that this is an armed robbery, although the investigators are checking the type of weapon they were carrying. But the priority of security guards is to protect lives. The important thing is that no one was injured,” adds Drenth. In the first statement issued by Tefaf shortly after the events, it is indicated that the security team “acted quickly to disarm the criminal”, but this was not the case. “The thief was not disarmed. In the video you can see that someone tries to stop them from behind, but that’s all, ”clarifies the interim general director himself. Tefaf has brought together 242 international galleries, including five Spanish.