Staff at the luxury Ritz hotel in Paris have found a diamond ring worth more than $800,000 (AU$1.2m) in a vacuum cleaner bag, Le Parisien reported, days after its owner, suspecting foul play, reported the jewel missing to local police.
Key facts
- Ritz security guards found the missing ring, worth an estimated €750,000, in the bag of a vacuum cleaner on Sunday, the French paper Le Parisien reported.
- The discovery comes two days after its owner, identified only as a Malaysian businesswoman visiting the French capital as a tourist, filed a police report believing the ring had been stolen by a hotel employee.
- According to the paper, the guest told police the ring had gone after leaving it in her room on a table and going shopping in the city for a few hours.
- In a statement to Le Parisien, the hotel said it would like to “thank the staff at the Ritz Paris who mobilized for this search and who work each day with integrity and professionalism.”
- The Ritz has also offered the guest, who flew to London on Saturday, a three night stay as compensation for the ordeal.
- It’s unclear whether the ring’s owner will take the hotel up on its offer and it is now in the hands of the police until she can collect it.
What to watch for
Parisian authorities are investigating the matter at the Ritz Paris – and it is up to local prosecutors to decide whether they consider the case closed and, if not, what happens next.
Key background
The Ritz is one of the most recognizable luxury hotel brands in the world and is known for attracting a wealthy and famous clientele. The hotel’s Parisian branch is no stranger to missing jewelry or thefts.
In 2018, the hotel suffered two high profile incidents of reported theft. In one, a member of the Saudi royal family claimed around $900,000 worth of jewelry had been taken from her suite.
For the other, masked men wielding axes and knives stormed the hotel and made off with millions of dollars worth of jewels. Incidents involving jewelry theft have also happened elsewhere in Paris.
Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room in 2016, losing around $10 million worth of jewelry. Armed robbers also made off with tens of millions of dollars worth of jewelry earlier this year after raiding a luxury watch store.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
