(Picture: AP)
A £14,250 Fabergé egg has been ‘naturally recovered’ from a man accused of swallowing it six days ago – with no drop in price.
The 32-year-old man was arrested at Partridge Jewellers in Auckland on 28 November after he reportedly ate the jewel, named the Octopussy egg, which is only one of 50 in the world.
It was crafted from gold and encrusted with 183 diamonds and two sapphires.
And when it opens, it reveals an 18-carat gold octopus inside with diamond suckers and eyes – inspiring the James Bond film of the same name.
But now, images show the egg being held by a gloved hand in some tissue after it was quite literally passed to police.
They confirmed: ‘Medical intervention was not required.’
Officers were stationed by the man round-the-clock to make sure they recovered the egg before it could be destroyed – or swallowed again.
Police said earlier this week: ‘Given this man is in police custody, we have a duty of care to continue monitoring him given the circumstances of what has occurred.’
And the pricetag remarkably has not gone down, despite spending nearly a week inside the man’s gastrointestinal tract.
Partridge Jewellers said the locket will be returned to Fabergé, Radio NZ reported.
The man has since been charged with theft, but according to the BBC he has also been charged with stealing an iPad from the same store and making away with cat litter and flea control products from a private address a day after.
Fabergé is a world-renowned jeweller founded in Russia more than two centuries ago.
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