The Biggest Crime in the History of Horology
November 14, 2013 5:41 AM   Subscribe

An audacious museum heist, in which a timepiece made for Marie Antoinette was among a haul worth hundreds of millions of pounds, left police clutching at thin air. It was only when the watch turned up 25 years later that the pieces of the jigsaw began to fall into place. - Marie Antoinette : the queen, her watch and the master burglar
posted by beisny (7 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
It was only a matter of time.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:58 AM on November 14, 2013 [7 favorites]


I love a good heist story. I'm surprised I had never heard of this robbery.
posted by TedW at 6:18 AM on November 14, 2013 [1 favorite]


Fascinating, to have done the crime out of intellectual curiosity or being simply bored.
posted by arcticseal at 7:40 AM on November 14, 2013


I wish this post had more links. It's a lovely story, but it's from 2009. Here's a couple. Nili Shamrat Convicted For Stolen Marie Antoinette Watch. Breguest No. 1160, the reproduction, with a decently hi-res photo of the works. Also at the Breguet site.
posted by Nelson at 8:41 AM on November 14, 2013 [3 favorites]


Thanks, what a great read. I love a good true crime story :)
posted by zombieApoc at 10:34 AM on November 14, 2013


Thank you - I do love reading about robbers motivated by something other than the money. And being smart, in a Stainless Steel Rat kind of way. Also, I'm glad they're getting almost all of their treasure back.
posted by ldthomps at 12:17 PM on November 14, 2013


I love this post, and the extra info from Nelson. I've always wondered about some of these complications ... especially the repeater, where it will chime the time at the press of a button... how the heck did they get that to work! How practical is something like that anyway? Anyone seen that in action?
posted by Admira at 8:37 PM on November 14, 2013


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