Egyptian queen’s 673-diamond necklace stolen in Vienna smash-and-grab raid

A multi-million-dollar, 200-carat platinum and diamond necklace commissioned for Egypt's royal family was stolen in a brazen daylight smash-and-grab raid at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK).

A historic Van Cleef & Arpels Art Deco necklace encrusted with 673 diamonds (weighing over 200 carats

Royal Provenance: The piece was originally commissioned for Queen Consort Nazli of Egypt, who famously wore it in 1939 for the wedding of her daughter, Princess Fawzia, to Iran’s then-crown prince (later Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi). It later fetched $4.3 million at a Sotheby's New York auction in 2015.

Two unmasked men bought regular tickets and entered the museum during opening hours. At around 2:00 PM, they used a hammer to smash a glass display case containing the piece, grabbed the jewelry in front of shocked witnesses, and fled on foot.

Austrian police launched an immediate manhunt, releasing CCTV footage of the suspects. Investigators suspect it may have been a contracted job carried out for an organized criminal ring