Kim Kardashian said she was robbed of more than $10 million in jewelry, including a $4 million diamond engagement ring featuring a 15-carat stone that she flashed constantly on social media. So what does a thief do with such well-known bling?
Scott Selby, co-author of “Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History,” said Kardashian’s rock will be tough to unload.
“The gold and smaller stones are easy to sell,” Selby told FOX411. “The big stones, especially the one on her engagement ring, are next to impossible to sell. They will likely have to break it into smaller stones and so lose most of its value.”
John Kennedy, president of Jewelers’ Security Alliance, said stolen diamonds can indeed be doctored so they become unrecognizable.
“[Sophisticated] robbers could work with a corrupt diamond cutter... in one of the jewelry centers such as Antwerp, and have the [stone] re-cut and the laser [inscription] removed, and the diamond re-set,” he said. “The goal is to change the weight, appearance and to some degree the shape of her diamond so it appears to be a different stone and then market it. Perhaps getting a new diamond grading report from a European lab, and not from Geological Institute of America.”
Kardashian’s rep had no comment when asked if the jewelry was
insured. However, TMZ reported that Kardashian is confident that she will get her ring back because she thinks the diamond’s inscription number will raise a red flag if it shows up on the market.
Jordan Hill of Illinois-based Cottage Hill Diamonds thinks it will be hard for the robbers to sell Kardashian's 15-carat monster.
“It doesn’t seem likely that someone would want to cut it up and sell it as it would lose too much value. To steal something that you can’t liquidate is silly.”
Kennedy said the thieves who stole Kardashian's jewels may try to move them internationally.
“It could be moved, uncut, to a geographically distant market, such as Hong Kong, Russia or South America, and be sold into that market."