Armed robbers storm Piaget store in Paris: £13million-worth of jewellery is stolen from luxury watch store by ‘woman in a dress and two men in suits’ after holding staff at gunpoint

• Raid on the Piaget outlet in city’s 2nd arrondissement unfolded this afternoon
• Investigators said ‘two men in suits and a woman in a dress’ were responsible

Three armed robbers today escaped from a jewellery store in central Paris with up to £13million worth of luxury goods.

The raid on the Piaget outlet in the city’s 2nd arrondissement took place early on Tuesday afternoon while shoppers were still inside as the perpetrators allegedly held staff members at gunpoint.

‘Two men in suits and a woman in a dress were responsible,’ said an investigating source. 

‘They calmly walked into the Piaget store and then threatened staff with a gun with a silencer on the barrel.

‘Everyone at the back of the store was forced on to the ground, and the robbers then forced a member of staff to open the display windows, and a trunk where some of the most expensive pieces are kept.

‘Once they had enough jewellery, the raiders fled on foot, and then possibly got on to two-wheelers nearby.’

The source said nobody was injured in the raid, and the value of the items taken amounted to as much as ’15 million euros,’ or £13million.

Red and white police tape cordons off the entrance of the French luxury Piaget jewellers store at Rue de la Paix that leads to Place Vendome, in Paris on August 1, 2023, following a robbery with losses estimated at 10-15 million according to the public prosecutor

French judiciary police work inside the Piaget store following a robbery, on Rue de la Paix next to the Place Vendome in Paris, France, August 1, 2023

French police stand in front of the Piaget store following a robbery, on Rue de la Paix next to the Place Vendome in Paris, France, August 1, 2023

The Paris prosecutor’s office has since opened an investigation for ‘armed robbery by an organising gang’ and ‘kidnapping’.

Piaget, the Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller, was founded in 1874 by Georges Piaget in the village of La Côte-aux-Fées, in the Jura mountains.

The raid is the latest in a long series carried out by criminals in central Paris.

In March, robbers stole millions of pounds worth of jewellery from a nearby Bulgari store, next to the Ministry of Justice.

Three men brandishing assault rifles arrived at the boutique in Place Vendome in broad daylight, as dozens of tourists and other passers-by looked on.

The same Bulgari store was first targeted in September 2021, when the criminals made off with some £10million worth of goods.

Last year, robbers openly carrying guns also made off with jewellery from a Chanel store in central Paris.

The four criminals were filmed as the they calmly left the Vendome store after filling up their bag with designer goods.

Jewellery stores in Paris have frequently been hit by robbers over the years, and celebrity homes have also been targeted.

In July 2022, thieves made off with goods worth almost £2m from a Chaumet store near the Champs-Elysees, and a Dinh Van store was also hit in the same month.

And in October 2016, more than £7m worth of jewellery was stolen after American reality TV star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint by a group of masked men in her Paris hotel room.

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