Retail jewelers rejoiced this holiday season, as spenders in a recovering US economy splashed out on more jewelry at all price points than last year. But as eager as shoppers were to spend their hard-earned cash on diamond and precious metal trinkets, some people preferred to cut out the transaction, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds and jewelry. Many of the jobs were literal break-ins, with the thieves tunneling into neighboring businesses and knocking through walls.
Just as business was picking up steam ahead of Christmas, Raymond's Jewelers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was robbed of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, mostly diamond rings, by burglars who managed not to get caught on the store's security cameras. Police said the burglars broke into a neighboring store and then smashed through the connecting wall to Raymond's.
The NYPD has yet to apprehend the three suspects in the Christmas Day burglary of the Ultra Diamonds jewelry store. The trio was caught on security cameras breaking though the wall of the Chelsea jeweler and filling backpacks with diamond engagement rings, gold and platinum wedding bands, earrings, and bracelets. Estimates of the jewelry's value ranges from $500,000 to $800,000.
Amit Sharma, owner of another New York City jewelry store – Nirvana in Tribeca – suffered more severe losses. One morning in December, he arrived at his shop to discover that it had been broken into overnight and that the thieves had taken every single item – including loose gemstones, bracelets, necklaces, and rings, most of which he had designed. Police said that the heist was professionally planned and that the burglars had entered an office above Nirvana from a construction site next door and cut a hole through the floor. Even Sharma's safe was emptied. Sharma estimates the value of the lost jewelry at over $700,000.
The New Year began badly for jewelry store owners Lois Starkey and Kim Barghouty. Starkey's B&L Jewelry in Sevier County, Tennessee was burgled overnight January 1. Thieves broke into her store and took as estimated $100,000 worth of jewelry, including sapphires, rubies, and diamond rings, along with some unique pieces. Over 2,000 miles away, Barghouty – owner of the Turquoise Lady jewelry shop on Portland's waterfront, discovered that burglars had tunneled into her store via an underground crawl space in an adjacent business. They then smashed the wall and entered Barghouty's store through the bathroom. The value of the jewelry stolen from her store was unknown.
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