By ANTARA News/Xinhua,
Paris : American luxury jewelry shop Harry Winston in the center of Paris was robbed Thursday, with four robbers managing to loot almost all jewelries on display worth 80 million euros (about 100 million U.S. dollars), making it by far the biggest jewellery heist ever in France.
The four robbers, two of whom disguised as women, managed to elude the high-security surveillance system and burst into the boutique at 5:30 pm (1630 GMT) on Thursday during the busy holiday shopping season.
Waving weapons, the robbers herded about a dozen of employees and customers into a corner, stuffed their bags with brooches, rings, necklaces and other finery, and quickly left, without firing a shot.
The value of the stolen jewelry is initially estimated at about62 million euros (about 78 million dollars), but was revised to 80million euros (about 100 million U.S. dollars), making it the biggest heist in the French history.
Police are investigating the case intensively, saying it was a well-planned robbery. The robbers seemed to know the lay-out of the store pretty well, they could even call some of the employees` names, hinting it might have been an inside job.
Harry Winston is one of the world`s most renowned jewelry chain, having good relations with the princely families and celebrities. It designed the famous tiara with a 60 carats pink diamond for Empress Farah Diba`s wedding in 1958, and cut the famous 69.42 carat diamond bought by Richard Buron for his wife Elizabeth Taylor`s 40th birthday.
Almost exactly one year ago, the Paris store suffered a robbery of more than 10 million euros (12.7 million dollars) worth of jewelry.