Stolen Pearls at Hong Kong Gem Fair

Stolen Pearls at Hong Kong Gem Fair

Thieves made off with $1.1 million of gems on the first day of the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem fair.

Police apprehended two male suspects who allegedly stole a 7-carat diamond worth US$450,000 ($479,000) and replaced it with a fake stone. They also stole an emerald necklace worth more than US$500,000 ($532,000) from another booth.

In two other incidents, different thieves stole pearls worth a total of US$25,000 ($27,000).

The Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem fair launched on September 14 at the AsiaWorld-Expo and will end on September 18. The fair is designed for exhibitors of diamonds, pearls, coloured gemstones and equipment while its partner fair from September 16 to September 20 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is for fine finished jewellery.

in 2009 the fair was one of the world’s biggest jewellery fairs in terms of total exhibitors. It broke its own record this year with a total of 3,205 exhibitors, up 5 per cent against last year.

International visitors increased this year, and those from Africa rocketed 56 per cent, according to Diamondworld.net. The most notable number of buyers were from India, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore, it said.

More about Stolen Pearls at Hong Kong Gem Fair