A Jewelry Heist to Remember!

Who doesn’t love a good heist movie? In fact, I binged watched Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen on Netflix over the weekend. What makes a heist story better than a movie? When its a real life crime story!

I was absolutely shaken, yet intrigued to learn more about the sensational jewelry heist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City! What’s even more intriguing is, that while I was researching the story for this blog post, The New York Times published a piece on this same story 3 days ago! Guess the story is newsworthy 55 years later - I know I definitely enjoyed reading the article. The New York Times article focused more on the actual heist and the characters involved, and I hope to emphasize on the treasures that were stolen.

The year was 1964, The movie ‘Topkapi’ was released and was a hit - the movie was about a group of criminal geniuses planning and stealing an emerald-encrusted dagger from Istanbul's Topkapi Palace. This movie supposedly influenced two amateur jewelry thieves to steal New York’s most precious gems. The plan was to rob J.P. Morgan Hall of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) . The Morgan Memorial Hall opened in 1922 houses some of the world’s finest mineral and gem specimens, the 215.85 carat Harlequin Prince black opal, 59 carat heart shaped morganite, 596 pound topaz crystal, 563.35 carat star sapphire known as the Star of India, 100.32 carat DeLong Ruby and much more.

The DeLong Star Ruby 100.3carats is one of the greatest star rubies ever discovered. Mined in Burma during the 1930s, this Ruby was donated to the AMNH by Mrs. George Bowen DeLong in 1938.

The Schettler Emerald weights 87.62 carats and is engraved in a flower and leaf pattern believed to be from Muzo, Colombia.

Allan Dale Kuhn and Jack Roland Murphy, beach boys in their 20s’ at the time, lowered themselves by rope to the Morgan Memorial Hall through an open window. There was only one alarm in the hall, that for the Start of India - unfortunately had a dead battery and didn’t go off. The robbers, swiped over fifty precious and semi-precious gems and crystals in glass cases.

The Harlequin Prince Black Opal weighs 215.85 carats, was mined in Australia.

A few prominent gems among the loot were the milky-blue Star of India (the world's biggest sapphire, weighing 563.35 carats mined in Sri Lanka over 300 years before); the DeLong Star Ruby (100.32 carats, and considered the world’s most perfect mined in Burma), and the purplish-blue Midnight Star (the largest black sapphire, at 116 carats, mined in Sri Lanka) and Eagle Diamond (15 carat uncut diamond from a glacial moraine near Eagle, Wisconsin, at the time, the largest diamond ever found in the United States.

The Midnight Star Ruby mined in Sri Lanka weighs 116.75 carats, and notable for its deep purple-violet color.

The Star of India: The largest gem quality blue star sapphire in the world. 563.35 carat stone is nearly flawless and exhibits a perfect six ray star on the front and back of stone.

The stolen jewels were valued at $410,000 in 1964, about $3 million today, premiums were prohibitive so none of the gems were insured. These one of a kind gems however, are priceless. The burglars were quickly apprehended and with their cooperation some of the gems were recovered. Among those recovered were The star of India, The DeLong Ruby, The Schetter Emerald and The Midnight star. Sadly, about thirty-five objects were never recovered, including the 15 carat Eagle diamond.

Allan Kuhn and Jack Murphy were each sentenced to three-year terms at New York’s Rikers Island Correctional Facility. Subsequently the Morgan Memorial Hall was moved from the fourth floor to the first floor of the American Museum of Natural History. The Morgan Hall of minerals was later expanded with the addition of the Guggenheim Hall of minerals - the total collection at the AMNH today comprises of 110,000 mineral sand 4,500 gems. Not each of the specimens are always on display.

The Morgan Hall and Guggenheim Hall of Minerals were closed to the public earlier this year undergoing renovation and security upgrade, I am unsure when they are planned to re-open.

References

Harlow, G. and Sofianides, A. (1990). Gems & Crystals. 1st ed. New York: Sterling Signature, p.xii.

Nytimes.com. (2019). How a Band of Surfer Dudes Pulled Off the Biggest Jewel Heist in N.Y. History. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/nyregion/natural-history-museum-jewelry-heist.html [Accessed 24 Oct. 2019].

Nast, C. (2014). The 50th Anniversary of New York’s Most Sensational Jewel Heist. [online] Vanity Fair. Available at: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/scandal/2014/10/museum-of-natural-history-jewel-heist [Accessed 24 Oct. 2019].

Sears, D. (2014). How Three Amateur Jewel Thieves Made Off With New York’s Most Precious Gems. [online] Smithsonian. Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-three-amateur-jewel-thieves-made-new-yorks-most-precious-gems-180949885/ [Accessed 24 Oct. 2019].

Young, M. (2015). The Epic Jewel Heist at NYC’s American Museum of Natural History in 1964. [online] Untapped New York. Available at: https://untappedcities.com/2015/07/08/the-epic-jewel-heist-at-the-american-museum-of-natural-history-in-1964/ [Accessed 24 Oct. 2019].

Van Pelt, E., & Van Pelt, H. (1990). Pictures. Gems & Crystals (1st ed., pp. 34–106). photograph, New York, NY: Sterling Signature.