Jewels destined for red carpet swiped in Cannes

Thieves ripped out a small safe from the wall of a hotel room near the Cannes Film Festival and made off with about $1m (€780,000) worth of jewellery that may have been intended for the red carpet stars.

Cmdr Bernard Mascarelli, a judicial police spokesman in the nearby city of Nice, said the robbery at the Novotel hotel on Thursday night took place in the room of a representative of Swiss-based jeweller Chopard.

The crime occurred just hours after the screening at Cannes of a film, based on a true story, about teens who broke into the homes of stars in Los Angeles to swipe designer bags, shoes and clothes from their homes.

The jewellery was “very probably” in the hotel in connection with the festival, Mr Mascarelli said, though he didn’t know who it might have been intended for. Chopard is a festival sponsor and has loaned jewellery to A-list stars who walk the festival’s famed red carpet under the rapid-fire flashes of photographers’ cameras. This year model Carla Devigne and actress Julianne Moore walked the carpet in Chopard gems.

Mr Mascarelli said he didn’t know the exact type of jewels taken or their exact value.

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