On 29 June 1905, Annie Gleason—an American fugitive later dubbed the “Princess of Thieves”—attempted one of Edwardian London’s most theatrical jewelry substitutions at Christie’s Bond Street auction rooms. Gleason had reportedly escaped an American jail the previous year, and her accomplices Harry Bennett and Baby Thompson helped construct an elaborate disguise: a silk dress, carriage, coachman, and footman that allowed her to pose as a wealthy widow and even claim kinship with General Grant. After studying a photograph of a valuable pearl necklace scheduled for auction, she visited The Parisian Diamond Company’s Regent Street shop and, relying on what contemporary accounts called a remarkable feat of memory, ordered a replica made from the firm’s imitation pearls for approximately £5.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1900s
The 1905 Christie’s Pearl Swap: How the “Princess of Thieves” Used Parisian Fakes to Steal a £1,700 Necklace
The Parisian Diamond Company; Annie Gleason / 1900s
On 29 June 1905, Annie Gleason—an American fugitive later dubbed the “Princess of Thieves”—attempted one of Edwardian London’s most theatrical jewelry substitutions at Christie’s Bond Street auction rooms. Gleason had reportedly escaped an American jail the previous year, and her accomplices Harry Bennett and Baby Thompson helped construct an elaborate disguise: a silk dress, carriage, coachman, and footman that allowed her to pose as a wealthy widow and even claim kinship with General Grant. After studying a photograph of a valuable pearl necklace scheduled for auction, she visited The Parisian Diamond Company’s Regent Street shop and, relying on what contemporary accounts called a remarkable feat of memory, ordered a replica made from the firm’s imitation pearls for approximately £5.
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