Printemps Robbed of De Beers Jewelry

WWD reported that two men held up the De Beers boutique in the Printemps department store in Paris. They escaped with jewelry worth between 1 million euros and 3 million euros, or $2.7 million and $4 million at current exchange. The robbery took place early evening Tuesday, confirmed a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office in Paris.

The men, armed with handguns and equipped with bullet-proof vests, entered the De Beers boutique, located on the first floor of the department store, at around 6:45 p.m. They did not fire their weapons, and no one was harmed, said the spokeswoman. The two men left the store through the personnel exit basically unnoticed suggesting they are familiar with the space.

A spokeswoman for Printemps declined to comment but the district attorney's office confirmed the men were unmasked and only disguised in wigs.

The De Beers heist in Paris comes less than 24 hours after a hit and run at the airport in Brussels. There a gang of heavily armed men disguised as policemen made off a large supply of rough diamonds estimated to be worth 37 million euros, or $49.4 million, en route from Antwerp to Zurich. The raid, which is said to have lasted only three minutes, is one of the biggest diamond heists ever reported.