Diamonds, Gemstones, Jewelry Op-Ed
Europe's Largest Jewelry Heist a Copycat?
Some Diamond Nonsense on TV
I watch CSI often. Partly it's to try and catch how often the technicians with the million dollar labs make such boneheaded mistakes. Some are merely silly, others are almost an insult. The folks in Miami seen to make more than their fair share.
I pay particular attention to anything gem related:
- Some jewel thieves have dumped a satchel of loot from a jewelry store heist in the ocean. A police scuba team locates it. One diver swims past the jewelry strewn across the seabed .. then surfaces. He not only estimates the value of what's in the ocean, but apparently can see that the diamonds are the real thing. WOW!
- Lieutenant Caine finds a scratch on an emerald. He then matches that scratch to a bad guy's broken tooth. Um, maybe. But then he announces to all listening that the bite test is how real emerald is tested.
- A round brilliant cut diamond appearing to be somewhere in
the 1-carat range needs to be tested to see if it's real. So
a C.S.I. places this gem between two anvils of a very precisely
calibrated hydraulic press and proceed to crush the thing!
Apparently, the tensile strength of natural diamond is higher than whatever else might be involved. So, for the want of a diamond tester, they destroy a $x,xxx stone.
The Diamond Heist
Could some French jewel thieves be watching and learning from CSI:NY?
Maybe you recall the "Holly Golightly" jewelry store robbery in CSI:NY.
Four pretty women dressed very stylishly in black dresses, black heels, dark sunglasses wear bright red lipstick, and dark wigs. Each is carrying a white "I [Heart] NY" shopping bag.
The women proceed to knock over a posh jewelry store in a smooth "smash and grab", operation. On a number of occasions they addressed the store staff by name.
Then what did I read?
Brazen Harry Winston Robbery Estimated at € 85 Million
Four armed robbers in dresses and heels almost emptied the Harry Winston store on Avenue Montaignein in Paris. They got away waving guns as pedestrians walked outside the store.
Some of the thieves wore wigs and used the names of the store's staff.
Maybe Montana can fly over and help the French police solve the crime?
Well, she has already done it once!