Engagement Rings and Diamonds in the News - The Oscars Diamond Heist

Engagement Rings and Diamonds in the News - The Oscars Diamond Heist

A famous Italian jeweller's named Damiani had their showroom broken into on the night of the Oscar's. A gang had been drilling a hole from the next door basement for weeks. Despite Damiani staff hearing the drilling, they dismissed it as renovation work next door. The gang entered the showroom through the hole they drilled in the basement dressed as policeman. Once inside they tied up the staff and locked them in a downstairs washroom. The entire heist took only 40 minutes and the gang made away with £10 million worth of diamonds!

They would, however, have made away with a hell of a lot more if it wasn't for the owners of the Damiani showroom being at the Oscars in Los Angeles USA. They had taken most of their diamond collection to LA for the Hollywood A-listers to wear on the red carpet! The tied up staff eventually set themselves free and sounded the alarm, but to no avail as the gang had escaped and they have still not been found to this day! This truly was a hollywood style heist, what with the drilling a tunnel beneath the building, overpowering the armed guard and evading the elaborate alarm system.

Damiani Jewellery similar to that stolen during the Oscar night heist in Milan, Italy.	Tilda Swinton wearing a Damiani diamond bracelet at the 2008 Oscars in Los Angeles.

Engagement Rings and Diamonds in the News - Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston Engagement Ring

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had their engagement ring designed and created by Damiani. However, Damiani reportedly produced replicas of Pitt and Aniston's engagement ring and sold them using their names and image as PR. The Hollywood stars filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Italian jeweller claiming that they had an agreement for Damani not to reproduce the couple's "one of a kind" engagement ring and wedding bands. The dispute was settled when Brad Pitt was offered the opportunity to design an entire collection for the company and for Jennifer Aniston to model for it. Once this agreement was made Damiani, finished selling replica's of their engagement rings and wedding bands.