This article recounts a bizarre jewelry heist in Auckland where a man allegedly swallowed a limited-edition Fabergé pendant, how police recovered it after continuous observation, and what the pendant is like, along with the legal consequences the suspect faces.
A thief entered a jewelry store in Auckland and stole a valuable pendant by an unusual method: he swallowed it to hide it from view. Store staff alerted police, who quickly moved to detain the suspect inside the shop. The story gathered attention because the method of concealment was so unexpected.
New Zealand Police said Friday they have recovered a James Bond-inspired Fabergé pendant after six days of closely watching the man accused of swallowing the jewelry in an Auckland store. They said the pendant was recovered Thursday night after it exited the suspect’s gastrointestinal tract naturally without medical intervention. The image released by police showed the pendant and its chain intact with a price tag still attached.
That literal interpretation of “what goes in must come out” made the case almost impossible to ignore. The pendant’s survival through the suspect’s digestive system removed the need for a risky medical retrieval. Police officers remained with the man around the clock to ensure the item was recovered as evidence without tampering.
The piece is a limited-edition Fabergé egg pendant inspired by the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy, and the store described it as one of only 50 made. Crafted from gold with green enamel, it includes 183 diamonds and two sapphires and is a tad over three inches tall. The pendant opens to reveal an 18-carat yellow gold octopus that nods to the film’s plot about jewel smuggling.
The attached price tag showed the jewelry’s 33,000 New Zealand dollar value, about $19,000 in U.S. currency at the time. Reporters noted the jewelry required cleaning after recovery, but the physical recovery itself meant the store would not suffer a total loss. Law enforcement treated the recovered pendant as central evidence in the theft case.
The man was arrested inside Partridge Jewelers in Auckland on Nov. 28 shortly after the alleged theft. He made a court appearance Nov. 29, when he didn’t enter a plea to a charge of theft. Since then, he’s been in police custody and officers had been stationed round the clock with the man to wait for the evidence to reemerge.
The 32-year-old man has not been publicly named and is due to appear in Auckland District Court on Monday, remaining in police custody until then. Court schedules and custody status are routine elements as prosecutors prepare charges and police preserve a chain of custody for the recovered pendant. The criminal process will determine whether charges proceed and what penalties might apply if conviction follows.
Observers have made light of the incident with jokes and pop culture references, but the reality was a straightforward theft response that relied on constant supervision. Police chose to let nature take its course rather than subject the suspect to invasive medical intervention. That decision prevented additional medical risk and kept the evidence intact for the court process.
Questions remain about how comfortable or risky it was for the suspect to pass an object with so many stones, and whether that could have caused injury. Medical issues were not publicly reported, and authorities said no medical intervention was required for recovery. The store will likely send the pendant for professional cleaning and inspection before any return or further action.
While the case will proceed through the Auckland courts, it highlights an inventive but ill-advised attempt to avoid detection. The combination of an iconic luxury object, a cinematic reference, and an unusual concealment method made this story notable beyond its local origins. For investigators, it was a straightforward theft case made memorable by the suspect’s extreme choice for hiding a stolen item.
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