Brazen Harry Winston Robbery Estimated at €85 Million

Diamonds and diamond jewelry worth an estimated €85 million ($108 million) were stolen from Harry Winston in Paris, according to the city prosecutors’ office. The four armed robbers, in dresses and high heels, entered the store on Avenue Montaigne around 5:30 pm on Thursday and practically emptied it of its precious contents.

Paris prosecutors’ spokeswoman Isabelle Montagne called the thieves “well-organized, ruthless criminals,” after they got away waving guns and while pedestrians were walking outside the store.

“We are cooperating with the authorities in their investigation,” Harry Winston Diamond Corp. said in a statement.

According to reports, at lease three of the four were dressed in dresses and wore wigs. They addressed some of the store’s staff by name, the International Herald Tribune reported, quoting Doron Levy, a spokesman for the Union of French Jewelers in Paris.

The store was victim to a large theft last year, when robbers stole an estimated €10 million worth of jewelry.

If the value of the current theft is accurate, Thursday’s theft is one of the largest in Europe’s history. In 2003, 123 safes in the basement of Antwerp’s Grunberger building in the diamond exchange were broken into. Diamonds, cash and other valuables worth an estimated $100 million were stolen.