14 DAY TRIAL // You'd think that having a diamond ring worth hundreds of thousands of dollars disappear without a trace from a display counter watched by several dozen people is the kind of thing that can only happen in Hollywood blockbusters.
As it turns out, such incidents most certainly can happen in real life as well. In fact, it was this past weekend that a diamond ring worth $557,000 (about €438,950) simply vanished from an auction house in Australia.
Now you see it, now you don't
Information shared with the public by the police officers in charge of investigating this case says that the pink and white diamond ring, a photo of which is available next to this article, was stolen on Saturday from an auction house in the city of Sydney.
The ring is believed to have disappeared sometime between 12:30 p.m. and 1:25 p.m from its display counter. At the time the rare piece of jewelry went missing, about 100 people were visiting the auction center.
For some reason, nobody saw anything. Thus, it was an auction house employee that eventually figured out that the diamond ring was missing, and quickly alerted authorities. An investigation was launched, but the culprit behind this theft is yet to be found.
In fact, authorities haven't even figured out whether they are looking for just one suspect or for more individuals who worked as a team to get people's attention and steal the rare piece of jewelry when nobody was looking at it.
It is understood that, despite the fact that the heist was committed this past Saturday, police officers have not yet been able to get their hands on security footage shot inside the auction center in Ralph Street in Alexandria around the time of the theft.
It is to be expected that, once they finally get the chance to have a look at the security footage, they will be able to figure out how and when the diamond ring disappeared without a trace from its display counter. Hopefully, the same footage will help them identify the culprit.
A one of a kind diamond ring
Apart from its unique design, what makes this white and pink diamond ring stand out is the fact that each and every one of the precious stones that went into making it is laser-inscribed with a serial number, Daily Mail informs.
This means that, were somebody to try and sell it to a jewelry store or some other establishment of this kind, the police would find it easy to track them down. However, were the thief to turn their attention to the black market, chances are that it will be a while before they locate the diamond ring.