Cache of riches: Various valuables brought to Vegas

By Brian Eckhouse

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 | 2 a.m.

An 850-pound emerald that disappeared from a Southern California vault in September has been tracked down to a Las Vegas warehouse.

And for us, this raises more questions than answers. How does someone cart such an enormous gem, believed to be the second-largest of its kind worldwide, some 265 miles without (presumably) being noticed? Who’s the lucky gal? And why bring the $370 million hot rock to Las Vegas?

It also brings to mind the parade of prizes that have passed through our valley — not necessarily by theft — over the years, thanks largely to some of Las Vegas’ more famous residents.

The Golden Nugget

The casino opened in August 1946, but the famous gold nugget on display there didn’t arrive until the 1980s. An Australian prospector in 1980 found what is believed to be the world’s largest existing nugget in the state of Victoria. “He was crying and he said, ‘I think we’re going to be filthy rich,’ ” recalled Bep Hillier, wife of prospector Kevin Hillier in a 2007 interview with an Aussie publication. Indeed. Casino magnate Steve Wynn, who owned the Golden Nugget at the time, bought the 61-pound, 11-ounce nugget called “the Hand of Faith” for about $1 million. (It’s now worth in excess of $3 million). It was one of the first examples of Wynn making a purchase to help draw tourists into his casinos.

Swarovski rhinestone

Las Vegas is also home to what once was the world’s largest rhinestone — now thought to be the second largest. The enormous 115,000-carat Austrian rhinestone was a thank-you gift from the Swarovski family to flamboyant entertainer Liberace, who sometimes studded his stunning capes in smaller gems of that crystal. Swarovski entered the American jewelry market in 1977, and according to Liberace Museum tour guide Nedra Rodheim, was “put on the map” by Liberace, who didn’t shy from engaging the press about his pricey wardrobe. The 50.6-pound rhinestone sits in a case at the Liberace Museum. Folks there won’t say what it’s worth.

The Krupp Diamond

In April 1959, three men robbed Spring Mountain Ranch resident Vera Krupp of the famous diamond ring that had come to bear her name. At the time it was valued at $275,000, according to the FBI. Several weeks later, a grocer in New Jersey was nailed after trying to sell it. Two small diamonds that accompanied the ring were found in St. Louis. Krupp restored the 33-carat ring, which was bought after her death by Richard Burton for his then-wife Elizabeth Taylor for $305,000. Taylor reportedly still owns the diamond.

Louis XV-style desk

This elaborate desk had an improbable journey to Las Vegas. A rococo sculptor known as Clodion built the desk in 1700s France, and it was used at the Palace of Versailles. It is said that the provisions of the Franco-Russian Military Convention of August 1892 were signed on this desk. It then found a home in the Imperial Palace in St. Petersburg. During World War II, Nazis reportedly drilled holes into the desk in search of treasures. Liberace found the desk in a small museum in Pensacola, Fla. The owner of the museum said if he wanted it, he’d need to buy the entire 14-piece exhibit. He did — for just $9,300. He quickly insured the desk for $275,000, Rodheim said. Liberace used it in his Palm Springs home. It, too, is encased at the Liberace Museum.

John Broadwood Piano

In his large collection of pianos, Liberace owned one of the oldest remaining in the United States. Made by John Broadwood of London in 1788, the small piano at the Liberace Museum predates an almost identical one featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Broadwood was one of the first manufacturers of pianos.

The Wynn Collection

Steve Wynn first displayed his heterogeneous art collection at the Bellagio, then housed it temporarily at the former Desert Inn while he was building his new resort. While at the Desert Inn, 13 pieces of art from different eras were crammed into a very small gallery — works by Cezanne, Gaugin, Manet, Matisse, Modigliani, van Gogh and Warhol, as well as Picasso’s “Le Reve,” which Wynn later personalized by puncturing it with his right elbow. Wynn moved the gallery to Wynn Las Vegas before closing it to make way for a watch store. Local art curator Brian Paco Alvarez speculates the diversity of the artwork in such a narrow space may be unmatched by any other museum or exhibit in the world.

An Apollo spacecraft

Finally, we tip our collector’s hat to former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, a one-time flight surgeon at NASA, whose eclectic back-yard collection of oddities and icons includes a 16-foot-tall 1960s-era Apollo space capsule. This particular would-be spacecraft was used for water testing in Downey, Calif., and later brought to the Las Vegas Valley by Buck’s Salvage, Hammargren recalled. A businessman bought it for $10,000, intending to place it atop a record store, but instead donated it to the Astronomical Society of Southern Nevada. Two decades ago, the three-person spacecraft was given to Hammargren.

He might have liked the 850-pound emerald, too.