Jewelry theft, an extraordinary risk
 |
It was during the transfer of the jewels from the safe of the hotel to the exhibition hall which is located 50 meters away, that the hold-up took place. The thief broke into a hardly-open French window and fled less than a minute later the same way.
Although safety failures are common: unarmed guards, window open into the terrace of the hotel, non-resisted entrance of the thief, not reporting the importance of the exhibits to the local police, the guarantee cover underwritten by the jeweler with the Lloyd's, insurer of the stolen jewelry, would come into play. This case is one of an armed robbery carried out in the light of day.
According to experts, the amount of the insurance premium for such goods should be comprised between 2% and 3% of the jewelry value, that is, between 2.6 and 3.9 million USD. Moreover, Leviev jewelery had to pay an additional premium to cover the exposure of its unique pieces on the Croisette, a very luxurious place where crime is growing steadily.
Progress of the investigation
Compensation for the damage should take between two and four months. Payment periods depend on the progress of police investigation. To speed up the case, the Lloyd's offers, as it has already done in 2008 during the robbery of the Harry Winston jewelry, a 1.3 million USD reward to the person who will help find the loot.
At the end of the investigation, three alternatives are considered:
- The police believes that chances of recovering the jewels are slim. The insurer is required to pay the jeweler the full value of the loot, that is, 136 million USD.
- The jewels are found after payment of compensation. The insurance company becomes the owner of the loot. The jeweler, however, has priority to buy the parts recovered if the insurance company decides to put them on sale. The jeweler can, nonetheless, abstain from buying out the jewels and retain the compensation.
- The loot is found before compensation payment, in which case the insurance will pay nothing and the insured recovers its stolen commodity.
At end December 2017, that is four years after the Carlton Hotel Jewelry theft, The booty was never found.
Rising loss experience makes insurers reluctant
The HBJO activity (watches and clocks, jewelry, precious stones and gold) has in the past three years reported an increasing loss experience. According to broker Verspieren, nearly 600 cases of jewelry thefts were reported in France for just 2012. Due to rising crime, insurers are getting too reluctant to provide coverage for this type of activity. Only the London market of the Lloyd's along with some reinsurers such as Swiss Re, Hannover Re and Munich Re continue to cover the risks of luxury brands.
«Comprehensive-jeweler» guarantee
A basic insurance called «comprehensive-jeweler» is often underwritten by the HBJO (watches and clocks, jewelry, precious stones and gold) business to cover the risks of theft, loss or damage to the jewelry in jewelry’s locations and in reserves. Specific covers as well extended guarantees can be added. Additional premiums are normally paid in the event of transportation, shipping, exhibition outside the store or when jewelry is entrusted to an actress or a model. It is according to the value of jewelry and their location that the insurer determines the additional premium. He may also require more stringent safety conditions.
Main thefts during 1963-2013
in millions USD
| Date | Location | Circumstances | The loot value | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
8 August 1963 | Glasgow-London | Attack of the Glasgow-London Royal Mail train | 68 | Part of the loot has not been found |
18 July 1976 | Nice (France) | Robbery of the safes of Société Générale bank | 41 | Loot never found |
3 July 1986 | Saint-Nazaire(France) | Hold up in Banque de France | 27 | Loot never found |
25 March 1990 | Geneva (Switzerland) | Hold up in the Union Bank of Switzerland | 24 | Loot never found |
16 December 1992 | Toulon (France) | Hold up in Banque de France | 29 | 1.8 million USD found by the police |
1 September 1997 | Zurich (Switzerland) | Attack of Fraumunster mail | 36 | Half of the loot found |
15 February 2003 | Anvers (Belgium) | Robbery of 123 safes of the World Diamond Centre | Between 125 and 502 | Loot never found |
5 March 2004 | Tokyo (Japan) | Robbery of jewelery by the pink panthers network | 25 | - |
25 February 2005 | Amsterdam (Netherlands) | Robbery of diamond and jewelery at the Amsterdam airport Schiphol | 89 | - |
20 December 2005 | Belfast (Northern Ireland) | Robbery of Northern Bank | 45 | - |
22 February 2006 | Tonbridge (United Kingdom) | Hold up in Bank of England | 104 | 16 million USD found |
5 March 2007 | Anvers (Belgium) | Theft of diamonds from the ABN AMRO bank’s safes | 31 | - |
10 February 2008 | Zurich (Switzerland) | Theft of 4 paintings : Cézanne, Van Gogh, Degas and Monet from the Bührle museum (Zurich) | 162 | The 4 paintings were found, the last of which in 2012 |
5 December 2008 | Paris (France) | Robbery of the Jeweler Harry Winston | 120 | 80% of the jewelery were found six months later |
13 July 2009 | Cannes (France) | Hold-up in a Cartier’s jewelery | 21 | - |
6 August 2009 | London (England) | Theft of jewelery at Graff Diamonds | 65 | 28.9 reimbursed by insurers |
20 May 2010 | Paris (France) | Theft of 5 master paintings from the Musée of Art Moderne | 132 | Unfound paintings |
18 February 2013 | Brussels (Belgium) | Theft of diamonds on the tarmac of the Brussels airport | 50 | Loss paid by the Lloyd’s |
28 July 2013 | Cannes (France) | Theft of jewelery exposed at the hotel Carlton | 136 | - |
01 March 2016 | Cannes (France) | Robbery of the Jeweler Chopard place Vendôme | 18.5 | - |
