$300,000 Diamond Mystery Disappearance at Monaco F1 Circuit

A $300,000 diamond — worth over $1 million in today’s value — mysteriously disappeared during the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix, creating one of Formula 1’s most intriguing unsolved mysteries.

Jaguar Racing partnered with Warner Brothers to promote Ocean’s Twelve by mounting 1.4-carat white diamonds on the nose cones of their drivers — Mark Webber and Christian Klien.

The diamonds, provided by trader Steinmetz, were mounted without insurance on the most vulnerable part of an F1 car. Klien, then a rookie in just his sixth F1 race, crashed at the Loews hairpin during the first lap.

“At that point, I should’ve been worried about the car or the driver. But, I must admit, my immediate thought was for the diamond,” revealed Nav Sidhu, the team spokesman involved in the Ocean’s Twelve sponsorship.

Several theories emerged about the diamond’s fate:

• Lodged in the barrier
• Washed out to sea through storm drains
• Picked up by an opportunistic spectator
• Secretly switched with a replica before the race

Though the diamond was never found, the publicity achieved was exactly what Jaguar wanted. Ironically, 2004 became the team’s final year in F1 before Red Bull took over — subsequently becoming one of the sport’s most successful teams.