The diamond that vanished at Monaco

A diamond goes missing

A $300,000 diamond was attached to the front of a Jaguar Racing Formula 1 car before it crashed on the first lap of the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix. It has never been found.

Why a diamond on a race car

Jaguar Racing's results had been mediocre since joining Formula 1 in 2000. By 2004, parent company Ford was pulling the team out of the sport. The diamond was a publicity stunt.

The Ocean's Twelve connection

Jaguar had partnered with Terminator 3 the previous season. Director of communications Nav Sidhu learned that Ocean's Twelve was filming in Monte Carlo and negotiated a deal with George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

The film plot inspired the stunt

Ocean's Twelve centred on an audacious theft of a diamond-encrusted Fabergé egg. Sidhu decided to put sparkle on his cars at the most glamorous race in the Formula 1 calendar.

Steinmetz provides the gems

Sidhu negotiated with diamond company Steinmetz to have gems attached to the two Jaguar cars. The diamonds would today be worth about $1m in total.

Two drivers, two diamonds

One diamond was mounted on experienced driver Mark Webber's car and one on rookie Christian Klien's. Both were encased in steel and fixed to the nose cones.

Klien crashes on the first lap

Starting from 14th place in only his sixth race, Klien made contact with a Jordan car exiting the Mirabeau corner.

The diamond vanishes

Sidhu called the diamond company to ask if they would get their diamond back.He could not reach the track until after the race finished 76 laps later.

“I can't remember what I answered, but it certainly wasn't 'yes'.”

Theory: it was fake

Sidhu denies rumours the diamond was fake. He says a diamond company would not risk using a fake in public because the embarrassment and disrepute to Jaguar and Formula 1 would be too high.

Purnell confirms it was real

Former team principal Tony Purnell recalls a conversation with managing director David Pitchforth, who said he picked up the diamond and scratched a window with it to verify it was genuine.

“Tony, it was definitely real because when they came to the office with it, I picked the diamond up, went to the window and scratched the window.”

Theory: someone pocketed it

Purnell thinks somebody probably picked it up and put it in their pocket. He also suggests the diamond may have shattered at high speed or been swept into a sewer by street cleaning trucks.

“I think somebody probably just picked it up, put it in their pocket and... they're probably smiling and thinking, 'it's in my drawer'.”

Theory: Klien crashed on purpose

Sidhu says the cost of damage to the car was more than the cost of the diamond.

Klien made a rookie mistake

Purnell says Klien drove straight into the barriers in front of marshals and would not have had a chance to look for the diamond. Klien simply said he made a rookie mistake.

“He was a young guy, first time, made a mistake, it happens.”

The diamond saved the day

Jarno Trulli won the Grand Prix but nobody asked about the result. Instead, all media attention focused on the missing diamond, providing Jaguar with massive publicity.

“No-one mentioned Jarno Trulli winning the Grand Prix, no-one asked how the Jaguars did. It was, 'where's the diamond?'”

The mystery helped the sale

Purnell believes the diamond mystery helped Jaguar's eventual sale to Red Bull six months later. The publicity showed that huge media attention was possible even without good performance.

“You couldn't design a better PR weekend.”