In Berlin, German police have recently recovered 31 individual items stolen in what has been described as “the world’s biggest gem heist” – the 2019 robbery of 4,300 diamonds, with an insured value of at least $129 million, from Dresden’s Royal Palace in November of 2019. But, according to a report in IDEX Online, many of these recovered pieces have been damaged.
Many of the diamonds recovered “appear cloudy and grayish in color, suggesting they were submerged in water for a long time. And there are traces of a white powder, probably used to remove fingerprints.” One particular piece has been broken into nine fragments. Additionally, two major pieces are still missing – the 50-carat Saxon White diamond, and Queen Amalia Augusta’s necklace.
Six men are on trial for the heist, three of whom changed their pleas to guilty recently, “having returned 31 fragments from the stolen items in exchange for lighter sentences,” according to the report.
