This year’s Cannes Film Festival will go down in history as the jewel heist festival, after the event was rocked by a second jewelry theft. This one targeted a single diamond necklace by De Grisogono that is worth an estimated $2.6 million.
According to Reuters, Fawaz Gruosi, who founded the Swiss company, said that the necklace was created to celebrate De Grisogono’s 20th anniversary. It was one of the pieces worn by 20 models at an event at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes. Actress Sharon Stone and socialite Paris Hilton were both at the party.
There were 80 bodyguards, police and members of security at the event. It was discovered that the necklace was gone after the party was over.
“These incidents are rare; it is actually the first time it happened in our 20-year history. However when they occur one must be proactive,” Gruosi told The Hollywood Reporter.
Reuters’ police sources say that they are investigating if this was a theft or if the necklace was simply lost.
This has been a very eventful festival, and not just because of the films being screened. On May 16, $1.4 million worth of Chopard jewelry was stolen when an entire safe was removed from an employee’s Suite Novotel Cannes Centre room. Chopard later said that the amount was inflated by the press.
THR notes that China Film Group vice president Zhang Qiang also reported that all of his belongings were stolen, forcing him to miss a press conference with Keanu Reeves.