$10 Million in Gems Stolen on Riviera

Two men impersonating police officers held up a jewelry store on the French Riviera and escaped with at least $10 million worth of gems, police said Thursday.

They said the robbers cleaned out the elegant Van Cleef and Arpels boutique in Cannes on Wednesday, leaving behind only one necklace valued at $156,000.

One of the men entered the shop at midday and presented a purported French police identity card, saying he was investigating a planned robbery on the shop.

He was joined by a presumed colleague, who feigned a conversation with his associate and then produced a pistol and an Uzi submachine gun, ordering shop owner Jean-Pierre Quemard, his wife and five employees to the floor.