09.04.2026 16:50
A bag containing a rare Fabergé egg and a luxury watch set was stolen by a thief in London's Soho district. The thief, who stole the bag worth £2.2 million, was only able to take out drinks and cigarettes from it.
Soho, one of London's most popular entertainment centers, was the scene of a tragicomic theft that will go down in the history of world jewelry. A moment of distraction caused a bag containing a rare Fabergé egg worth approximately £2.2 million (around 90 million TL at current exchange rates) and a luxury watch set to vanish in seconds.
The incident occurred on the evening of November 7, 2024, at the historic Dog and Duck bar in London. Rosie Dawson, a senior executive of the world-famous whiskey brand Craft Irish Whiskey, briefly placed her luxury Givenchy bag on the floor next to her while meeting friends after work at the bar. Security camera footage showed the incredible calmness of 29-year-old Enzo Conticello, of Algerian descent. The thief, who entered the bar like a customer and initially attempted to steal someone else's backpack, headed outside when he was unsuccessful.
Taking advantage of the few seconds when Dawson was hugging her friend, Conticello calmly took the bag containing a fortune as if it were his own and blended into the crowd. The most shocking detail of the theft emerged after the suspect was caught. Unaware of the value of the priceless 10 cm tall Fabergé egg with green and gold embellishments inside the bag, the thief was found to have used the credit cards that came out of the bag to buy only drinks and cigarettes for himself.
The egg in question was a rare piece, part of the "Emerald Isle" collection, of which only seven were produced worldwide, and was sought after by collectors. Previously, a piece from this series had set a record at auction, selling for over $2 million along with a rare whiskey. The Metropolitan Police spent more than a year tracking the thief. After fleeing to Ireland, Conticello was arrested in Belfast for another crime, where he presented a fake name and counterfeit Irish identification documents to the police.
However, as a result of meticulous tracking, the suspect's true identity was uncovered, and he was handcuffed by London police at the gate of the prison in Ireland when he was released in January 2026 and brought to England by private jet. Defending himself in court, Conticello claimed that he was homeless at the time and did not know what he was doing due to drug addiction.
He alleged that he had given the million-pound jewelry in the bag to an unknown person he encountered on the street in exchange for drug money. However, Judge Kate Livesey stated, "This is a clear case of opportunism and greed," sentencing the suspect to two years and three months in prison. Police teams reported that the £2 million Fabergé egg and the pink gold-plated watch have still not been found.
Detective Arben Morina expressed that this theft has caused significant trauma to the victim and that the fate of the jewelry remains uncertain. Jewelry experts indicate that it is very difficult to sell such rare pieces on the black market, and the thief's disposal of these works without knowing their value could be a significant loss for the world's artistic heritage.