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The Old Switcheroo: Slippery Thief Swaps Cubic Zirconia for $28K Diamond

Published

7 years ago

February 4, 2016

INSTORE Staff

The smooth-talking criminal, seen here in a security camera shot from inside D. Geller and Son Diamonds.

The smooth-talker spent two hours setting up his trick.

A slick-talking, well-dressed man walked out of an Atlanta jewelry store with a $28,000 2.15 carat diamond after he sneakily switched it out with a cubic zirconia, Fox 5 Atlanta reports. The article says he did it after spending two hours hobnobbing with sales associates at D. Geller and Son Diamonds, explaining how he was looking for a diamond that could be mounted on a ring for his fiancée. Then, while being shown the diamond, he made the switcheroo and excused himself to smoke a cigarette outside of the store. By the time a sales associate realized that he left a cubic zirconia where the real diamond had been, he had already made his getaway. (Catch the video news report at the link below.)

Read more and see video report at Fox 5 Atlanta

It Was Time to Make a Decision. It Was Time to Call Wilkerson.

Except for a few years when he worked as an accountant, Jim Schwartz has always been a jeweler. He grew up in the business and after “counting beans” for a few years, he and his wife, Robin, opened Robin James Jewelers in Cincinnati, Ohio. “We were coming to a stage in our life where we knew we have to make a decision,” says Jim Schwartz. He and Robin wanted to do it right, so they called Wilkerson. The best surprise (besides surpassing sales goals)? “The workers and associations really care about helping us move out own inventory out of the store first. It was very important to us.”