Engagement Rings and Diamonds in the News - The Museon Diamond Heist

Engagement Rings and Diamonds in the News - The Museon Diamond Heist

In December 2002, $12 million of diamonds were stolen from a science museum called The Museon in The Hague, Netherlands. At the time The Museon had an exhibition about diamonds, displaying how they are cut from the rough, polished and how they are set in jewellery (like engagement rings). A huge amount of jewellery and diamonds were leant to the science museum for the exhibition, and the show even included some royal diamonds.

This diamond heist has gone down in history as no one can explain how they managed to steal the jewellery and diamonds, the reason being that there were 24-hour security guards on site who saw nothing, 24-hour CCTV footage with nothing. The reinforced glass cabinets holding the diamonds did not appear tampered with and the entire museum had a motion detection alarm active when the diamonds disappeared! The Museon’s exhibition was open all weekend (with diamonds on display). Then it closed Sunday night until Tuesday morning as they are closed Mondays. So the heist must have taken place either Sunday night or Monday - to this day no one knows.

There was only one sign of a break in; this was a broken window at the back of the property. That’s it, no other clues whatsoever were found. Of course being a completely flawless heist it suggests that this could have been an inside job. However after interviewing all museum staff there have been no leads. This heist has left the authorities completely baffled.

Engagement Rings and Diamonds in the News - The Museon Diamond Heist - What was Stolen?

The Museon has never released complete details about which diamonds and jewels were stolen during the heist. However it is rumoured that various Royal items were taken (hopefully no engagement rings!). None of the diamonds or jewellery has ever been found. The Museon has reported that $12 million worth was stolen. However, many of the items stolen had historical importance.