Armed robbers storm Piaget store in Paris: £13 million worth of jewelery was stolen from luxury watch shop by ‘woman in dress and two men in suits’ after holding staff at gunpoint
Armed robbers storm Piaget store in Paris: £13 million worth of jewelery was stolen from luxury watch shop by ‘woman in dress and two men in suits’ after holding staff at gunpoint
- A raid took place this afternoon at the Piaget outlet in the 2nd arrondissement of the city
- Investigators said “two men in suits and a woman in a dress” were responsible
Three armed robbers escaped today from a jewelery store in central Paris carrying £13 million worth of luxury goods.
The raid on the Piaget outlet in the city’s 2nd arrondissement took place early Tuesday afternoon while shoppers were still inside, as the perpetrators allegedly held staff members at gunpoint.
“Two men in suits and a woman in dress were responsible,” said an investigative source.
They calmly walked into the Piaget store and then threatened the staff with a gun with a silencer on the barrel.
Everyone at the back of the store was forced to the floor and the robbers then forced a member of staff to open the windows, and a trunk where some of the most expensive pieces are kept.
“Once they had enough jewels, the robbers fled on foot and then possibly switched to nearby two-wheelers.”
The source said no one was injured in the raid and the value of the items seized was as much as ’15 million euros’ or £13 million.
Red and white police tape cordon off the entrance to the French luxury Piaget jewelry store on Rue de la Paix leading to Place Vendome in Paris on August 1, 2023, following a robbery with losses estimated by the public at 10-15 million.
French judicial police work at the Piaget store after a robbery, on Rue de la Paix next to Place Vendome in Paris, France, August 1, 2023
French police stand in front of the Piaget store after a robbery, on Rue de la Paix next to Place Vendome in Paris, France, August 1, 2023
The public prosecutor of Paris has now opened an investigation for ‘armed robbery by an organizing gang’ and ‘kidnapping’.
Piaget, the Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller, was founded in 1874 by Georges Piaget in the village of La Côte-aux-Fées, in the Jura Mountains.
The raid is the latest in a long string of criminals in central Paris.
In March, robbers stole millions of pounds worth of jewelery from a nearby Bulgari store, next to the Justice Department.
Three men brandishing assault rifles arrived at the boutique on Place Vendome in broad daylight, while dozens of tourists and other passers-by watched.
The same Bulgari store was first attacked in September 2021, when the criminals made off with goods worth around £10 million.
Last year, robbers openly carrying guns also made off with jewelery from a Chanel store in central Paris.
The four criminals were filmed calmly leaving the Vendome store after filling their bags with designer items.
Jewelery shops in Paris have often been raided by robbers over the years, and celebrity homes have also been targeted.
In July 2022, thieves made off with goods worth nearly £2 million from a Chaumet store near the Champs-Elysees, and a Dinh Van store was also raided in the same month.
And in October 2016, more than £7 million worth of jewelery was stolen after American reality TV star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint by a group of masked men in her Parisian hotel room.