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Memo to diamond dealers: If you don't want to lose your precious gems, don't put them inside race cars.
A flawless diamond worth about $350,000 embedded in the nose of a Formula One car was lost to the ages when the car's driver plowed into a guard rail at the Monaco Grand Prix (search) on Sunday, reports the Independent of London.
"At that point, I should probably have been worried about the car or the race or the driver," Jaguar team spokesman Nav Sidhu said to the newspaper, "but, I must admit, my immediate thought was for the diamond."
Two identical shirt-button-sized gems were embedded in the noses of both Jaguar team cars (search) before the start of the well-known race, in which Formula One cars race through the winding streets of the tiny principality on the French Riviera at speeds up to 175 mph.
Even worse, driver Christian Klein crashed during the first lap, meaning that the Jaguar team had to wait until the race was finished two hours later before being allowed safely out into the track to look for the diamond.
By that point, the race cars' massive wheels could have taken the gem anywhere, and spectators who had heard the news jumped onto the track trying to find it.
"We have 100,000 people milling around trying to find a bit of crashed car across the course," said Sidhu. "I don't expect we are going to get it back."
Since the cost of underwriting a diamond of such value at such a risky event would have been astronomical, the lost gem was not insured.
The diamonds were part of a one-time publicity stunt promoting the Israeli gem firm of Steinmetz (search), with an additional tie-in to "Ocean's 12," the upcoming movie starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon that involves a European jewel heist.
Sidhu said he hadn't yet spoken with the diamond firm, but said, "at the end of the day it is the sponsor that will take the loss."
A flawless diamond worth about $350,000 embedded in the nose of a Formula One car was lost to the ages when the car's driver plowed into a guard rail at the Monaco Grand Prix (search) on Sunday, reports the Independent of London.
"At that point, I should probably have been worried about the car or the race or the driver," Jaguar team spokesman Nav Sidhu said to the newspaper, "but, I must admit, my immediate thought was for the diamond."
Two identical shirt-button-sized gems were embedded in the noses of both Jaguar team cars (search) before the start of the well-known race, in which Formula One cars race through the winding streets of the tiny principality on the French Riviera at speeds up to 175 mph.
Even worse, driver Christian Klein crashed during the first lap, meaning that the Jaguar team had to wait until the race was finished two hours later before being allowed safely out into the track to look for the diamond.
By that point, the race cars' massive wheels could have taken the gem anywhere, and spectators who had heard the news jumped onto the track trying to find it.
"We have 100,000 people milling around trying to find a bit of crashed car across the course," said Sidhu. "I don't expect we are going to get it back."
Since the cost of underwriting a diamond of such value at such a risky event would have been astronomical, the lost gem was not insured.
The diamonds were part of a one-time publicity stunt promoting the Israeli gem firm of Steinmetz (search), with an additional tie-in to "Ocean's 12," the upcoming movie starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon that involves a European jewel heist.
Sidhu said he hadn't yet spoken with the diamond firm, but said, "at the end of the day it is the sponsor that will take the loss."
