In San Diego a man pretending to be a customer robbed a jewelry store Tuesday on Prospect Street near Coast Boulevard in La Jolla, police said.

The man entered Jewelry Passion shortly before 5 p.m. and asked to see some rings, then pulled a handgun from his waistband and ordered the employee to get on the floor.The robber grabbed some more gemstone rings from a display case and fled.

The employee was not injure.The suspect was described as white, unshaven, in his late 20s to early 30s, about 6 feet tall and 180 to 200 pounds. He was wearing sunglasses, a blue Chargers baseball cap, a brown collared long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up, blue jeans and a large watch.

A luxurious exhibition of antiques and jewellery in 2004 ended with a spectacular theft: on the second-last day of the exhibition, unidentified thieves stole two diamonds worth a total of US$ 8.5m. Within seconds, the diamond jewels had been pocketed by the thieves.

This diamond theft is one of the biggest cases in French criminal history. The thieves were able to prise open the showcase in a flash and make off with two diamonds, one 16 and one 40 carats. Although the serious crimes squad were relatively quickly on the scene and conducted their investigations through Interpol, the thieves are still at large.
A professionally planned heist

The thieves went about their business with utmost precision. There were few visitors to the 20 sqm booth in the early afternoon of the second-last day of the exhibition, but around 3 p.m. three groups of between three and five people each as well as a number of individuals showed an interest in the impressive display of jewels at an internationally renowned jeweller.

The four employees and two security guards hired by the jewellers were fully occupied with the visitors. Two of the employees presented a jewel from one of the six showcases to potential customers, while the other two answered lots of detailed questions by the other visitors.

The various visitors, numbering at least twelve people, remained in the sales booth for roughly 15 minutes and then gradually departed. Their visit was immediately followed by one from a VIP delegation of six to eight people, including the wife of the French President. When the President’s wife asked to be shown a number of jewels, one of the employees discovered that two of the four diamonds were missing from one of the locked showcases. To avoid any fuss, they did not inform the police until after the VIP delegation had left the booth.
Jewellers’ block

The sales booth and the goods were originally insured under a so-called jewellers’ block policy, an all-risks insurance specifically for the jewellery business. Trade fairs and exhibitions can be included in the cover in return for an additional premium.

Special security requirements apply on account of the substandard risk exposure commonly associated with such events. The goods must be kept exclusively in locked showcases during the exhibition, remain under permanent supervision and be kept in a safe outside normal exhibition hours.

One basic requirement is that the level of security must always correspond with the value of the goods concerned. To ensure that this is the case, security experts who specialise in this line of business are normally requested to take the necessary measures on site. In this particular case, it was found that the showcase was not suitable for the goods it contained.
The showcase was broken into

The stolen diamonds were contained in a standard showcase comprising a wooden pillar with a glass case on top. The glass top was secured by a hinge at the back of the showcase and secured by a simple lock.

The thieves had evidently first attempted in vain to pry open the showcase. Then they presumably inserted a knife blade between the wooden frame and the glass top, thus breaking off a chip so that they could open the lock and lift off the top.
Conclusion

Although the theft was planned and executed in an extremely professional manner, it could have been prevented by an adequate security concept commensurate with the risk.

A general concept should be devised in advance by a specialist security expert and tailored to the specific situation and goods concerned, taking into account not only mechanical but also electronic and organisational measures.

The following security measures should have been taken:

    *Valuable jewels to be distributed over several showcases
    *Showcases connected to an alarm system, with burglarproof glass and sophisticated locks, such as electronic security locks with a special numerical combination and delayed opening
    *24-hour video surveillance of the sales booth (with a clearly visible sign indicating this)
    *Alarm and video surveillance linked to a security company
    *Controlled access, for instance with barrier posts and cordons in order to keep the number of visitors in line with the size of the booth.

Such security measures are often burdensome for the policyholder, but they are indispensable if such highly exposed risks are to be insured. Jewels and diamonds are highly coveted on account of their considerable material value, and organised crime is burgeoning in this sector. The next thieves are patiently waiting for the next opportunity to present itself.

Crime Stoppers can not identify  a ring of jewelry thieves. September 2008,  three black males entered the All About Jewelry Store in the 2600 block of Scottsville Road. While two suspects distracted store clerks, a third suspect removed two rings from the jewelry case. The rings are described as  a diamond tanzanite ring  and a wedding ring. The rings were valued at $22,000. Two of the suspects were captured on video surveillance. But no one can  identify these jewelry theft suspects.

Pasadena police have arrested a man on suspicion of robbing a jewelry store at Paseo Colorado.

The person name is Kinsley Wright, 47, of Los Angeles was at the intersection of Union Street and Marengo Avenue, near where the robbery occurred, said Pasadena police Lt. Bruce George.

The suspect walked into Paseo Jewelers and asked an employee to see a diamond bracelet, and then walked out with it after gesturing to show that he had a hand gun in his pocket,said the employee.

The employee followed the suspect outside, gave a description of the suspect and Wright was apprehended shortly thereafter. Wright had a tennis bracelet on him that was returned to the jewelry store.