A $33,000 James Bond-inspired Fabergé egg pendant has been recovered from the digestive tract of an alleged thief in Auckland, following a six-day stakeout that gives new meaning to the phrase “waiting game.”
New Zealand Police announced Friday they had successfully recovered the valuable jewelry item after nearly a week of round-the-clock monitoring of the 32-year-old suspect who allegedly swallowed it during a theft at Partridge Jewelers on November 28, 2025. The pendant eventually “exited the suspect’s gastrointestinal tract naturally” without requiring medical intervention, police confirmed.
A Precious Passage
Officers had maintained constant surveillance of the man while in custody, patiently waiting for nature to take its course. The price tag — showing a value of £14,250 (approximately $33,000 NZD or $19,000 USD) — remarkably remained intact throughout its unusual journey, authorities stated.
“Given this man is in Police custody, we have a duty of care to continue monitoring him given the circumstances of what has occurred,” Inspector Grae Anderson said in a statement Wednesday, explaining the unusual surveillance operation that finally concluded Thursday night.
The recovered pendant is no ordinary piece of jewelry. It’s a limited edition Fabergé egg, one of only 50 ever made, crafted specifically as an homage to the 1983 James Bond film “Octopussy.” The exquisite item features gold with green guilloché enamel, encrusted with 183 diamonds and two sapphires — but the real surprise lies within. Open the egg, and an 18-carat yellow gold octopus is revealed, complete with white diamond suckers and black diamond eyes, local media reported.
Diamonds Are Forever
How does one recover such a valuable item in these circumstances? With patience, apparently. Police maintained their vigilant watch over the suspect from the moment of his arrest at the Auckland jewelry store until the pendant’s eventual reappearance six days later.
In a nod to Bond film lore, detectives described the recovery with the phrase “diamonds are forever” — though in this case, the journey through the human digestive system proved mercifully temporary. The limited-edition pendant’s octopus design specifically honors the antagonist from the “Octopussy” film, making it particularly coveted among collectors and, evidently, thieves.
The unnamed 32-year-old suspect remains in police custody and is scheduled to appear in Auckland District Court on Monday. He has not yet entered a plea to the theft charge, authorities noted.
For the officers assigned to this unusual detail, the case represents one of their more peculiar assignments. But as any veteran detective might tell you, sometimes police work isn’t just about chasing leads — sometimes it’s about waiting for them to emerge.
