US reality television star Kim Kardashian West was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in Paris early Monday by thieves who made off with booty worth at least €9 million (Dh37.1 million).
The biggest French jewellery heist ever occurred in July 2013, when robbers attacked an exhibition of Extraordinary Diamonds at the Carlton hotel in Cannes and made off with an estimated €103 million in jewels.
Here are the top five jewellery thefts from individuals:
Highway robbery
On July 4, 1993, cash and jewellery worth an estimated €8.5 million in today’s currency was stolen from MGM shareholder Marvin Davis and his wife on a road near Antibes, on the French Riviera.
Four gunmen blocked their limousine and escaped with a briefcase the US couple had with them.
Bag grab
On February 15, 2010, a thief stole a handbag with €4.5 million in jewels from the daughter of the mayor of Kiev while she was arriving in Paris.
Christina Chernovetska was travelling from Charles De Gaulle airport in a chauffeur-driven car when a man approached the vehicle and grabbed the bag in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
Smash and grab
On April 15, 2015, three thieves made off with a handbag containing €4 million worth of Chanel jewels in a smash-and-grab attack on a taxi between Paris and Charles De Gaulle airport.
The victim was a Taiwanese art collector and the theft took place in the 1.3km-long Landy tunnel, notorious for robberies of tourists stuck in traffic.
Saudis robbed
On August 20, 1996, robbers attacked three Saudis on a road near Antibes, on the Riviera coast, making off with jewellery worth the equivalent of €3 million.
Villa burglary
On August 5, 1995, a Saudi businessman who had rented a villa in Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French Riviera was robbed of jewellery worth the equivalent of €3 million.
