Sapphire stolen two decades ago in Italy now at center of Manhattan lawsuit
The sleight of hand was as stunning as the stolen sapphire.
No one knows how the 65-carat gem, inlaid in a dazzling art-deco diamond-and-sapphire Cartier bracelet, disappeared 22 years ago from a sparkling showcase in an Italian hotel where 50 people had gathered to ogle it.
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Known for the region in the Himalayas where the mythical blue stones were mined in the 1800s, the Kashmir sapphire was considered “one of the finest” of its kind in the world and the largest ever to be sold at auction. Its provenance was listed as “from an important American family.”
“I realized, while I was showing objects to a client, that the Cartier sapphire and platinum bracelet that was on display was missing from the corner window,” auctioneer Osvaldo Patrizzi told Italian police at the time. “I immediately became alarmed.”
In a panic, Patrizzi bolted to get security to lock down the showroom inside the Four Seasons in Milan, where in November 1996 the bracelet was such a hot commodity, it had its own catalogue at an event highlighting “The Magic of Cartier” ahead of an auction just days later.
The only clue in the mystery appeared to be a forced lock on a side door and window, Patrizzi, then head of the auction house Antiquorum, noted in a police report.
The jewel thief was never caught, but the rock did resurface — and is now at the center of a Manhattan lawsuit.
In 2005, a man named Rafael Koblence began pawning the deep-blue treasure for millions. He first collected $2 million from a company called Essex Global.
In 2011, Koblence began defaulting on his payments to Essex, according to court papers. To make good, he pawned the sapphire again, this time to Modern Pawn Brokers in Manhattan for $3.75 million. Modern paid off Essex in exchange for the sapphire.
But when Modern tried to sell the sapphire in 2015, an analysis “indisputably” showed the stone was the one stolen in Milan, despite being cut down to 60 carats.
Koblence claims it’s a different stone — one his wife inherited from relatives who had owned it for decades. Lawyers for Koblence didn’t return a message.
Insurers forced to pay out when the Kashmir sapphire was stolen and sued Modern and Koblence to get it back. Koblence ignored the litigation, Modern claims in court papers, and the pawn broker eventually paid $4.6 million to settle the case. It says it now owns the sapphire.
Modern is suing Koblence in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming Koblence keeps suing for possession of the gem despite having no legal right to it.
Modern Pawn Brokers want a judge to declare it the “legal and rightful” owners of the star-crossed sapphire.
