Jewelry News

The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist

March 25, 2009

Diamond heists, burglar rings and vault break-ins are usually fictional fodder for great movies like To Catch A Thief and the Ocean's 11 franchise. But in February 2003, a real-life gang of Italian thieves completed what experts thought was a 'mission impossible'. They broke into the Antwerp Diamond Center vault and made out with diamonds, gold, jewelry and other loot worth at least $100 million.

The vault was thought to be impenetrable. It was protected by ten layers of security, including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and a lock with 100 million possible combinations. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can't explain exactly how it was done.

The ring leader, Leonardo Notarbartolo, was arrested on circumstantial evidence and was sentenced to ten years. He has always denied having anything to do with the crime and has refused to discuss his case with journalists, preferring to remain silent for the past six years.

Until now.

Wired writer, Joshua Davis, interviewed the wily Italian while he was in prison and learned more about the ins and outs of the diamond heist to end all diamond heists. The magazine printed the article in their April edition (out yesterday), but demand for the piece ran so high they posted a free online version for inquiring minds.

Trust us. It's riveting stuff.

But if you'd rather wait for a big screen version, Lost creator, J.J. Abrams, just bought the piece to produce through his Bad Robot production shingle.

After reading the story (and seeing his picture), it's hard to imagine anyone playing Notarbartolo other than the real man, himself. But if George Clooney decided to take a break from his Italian villa for a spell - we wouldn't complain.

Click here for a link to Joshua Davis's incredible Wired article online.