Lost tiara of Duchess of Argyll returned to owner after 6 years Archived Message
Posted by ErikS on June 18, 2012, 10:38 am
Airport sells off Duchess's lost diamond tiara
The Duchess of Argyll, who lost five pieces of jewellery including a diamond tiara at Glasgow Airport, spotted one of them in an auction catalogue after BAA sold it off, it was reported.
The Duchess lost a Victorian headpiece and a Cartier brooch along with three other pieces worth a total of £100,000 in 2006. The items went missing as she returned to Clan Campbell's ancestral home, Inveraray Castle.
Despite reporting the loss to the police and informing the Art Loss Register (ALR), they could not be traced until the Duchess, 68, saw her missing brooch in a catalogue for Scottish auction house Lyon and Turnbull, the Independent reported.
After the ALR investigated, it emerged the airport's owner, BAA, had found the jewellery just months after it went missing and sold it to a diamond merchant for less than £5,000. The proceeds were given to charity.
Christopher Marinello, ALR lawyer, said: "Apparently, the airport found the jewels or they were turned in to 'lost and found' by someone.
"The question remains: what did they do to help find the owner? They didn't call the police even though the airport police had a record of the theft. They didn't call ALR. The only thing they did was sell them."
BAA has reportedly offered to reimburse the trader to have the tiara, brooch and a pearl necklace returned but an emerald ring and pearl earrings are still missing.
"I'm absolutely amazed. I thought that after six years I'd lost them forever," the Duchess said. "The tiara was a Victorian family one and the necklace was given to me for my 21st birthday. So everything was very special."
A BAA spokesman said the authority would be reviewing its procedures.
Gavin Strang, L&T director, said he was "delighted" that the jewellery was being returned to its "rightful owner".
on June 18, 2012, 10:38 am