Bracelets and necklaces due to be seen on red carpet are swiped from hotel room in 'Bling Ring' raid
THE CANNES Film Festival has been rocked by a $1m jewellery theft in which bracelets, necklaces and other items destined to be worn by celebrities on the red carpet disappeared from a hotel in the town. The items belonged to the Swiss jeweller Chopard and were taken from the room of one of the company's employees at the Novotel hotel. The thieves reportedly broke into the room and forced a safe off the wall before fleeing with the jewellery and precious stones. Chopard has become synonymous with the festival, even designing the coveted Palme d'Or award which goes to the winning film each year. The award itself is safe. "Chopard has long featured among the designer names worn by stars at events such as the Oscars," reports The Guardian. "It has been a sponsor of Cannes for 16 years, competing to complete celebrities' outfits with a 40-strong team working around the clock at the festival." Festival guests including Julianne Moore, Cindy Crawford and Cara Delevingne (above) have been seen wearing Chopard creations this year. Jennifer Lawrence wore Chopard jewellery as she collected the best actress award at the Oscars in February. The Times points out that it is fitting the heist should take place at Cannes. "Jewel robberies are common on the Riviera but the most famous burglar was the fictional one played by Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller To Catch a Thief." By coincidence – or perhaps not - the theft occurred on the same day as the festival screening of The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola's film about a group of teenagers who, as the BBC points out, find out when celebrities are attending red carpet events so they can break into their homes and steal clothes, bags and shoes. Source: The Week UK
