A man has been jailed for stealing a Fabergé egg from a woman’s handbag outside a pub in Soho.
Enzo Conticello snatched the rare jewelled egg, as well as a watch, purse and laptop from whisky firm director Rosie Dawson as she was speaking to friends on Bateman Street on the evening of November 7, 2024.
Conticello, who also went by the name Hakim Boudjenoune, was also caught on CCTV spending money on the victim’s bank cards at convenience stores.
Minutes before grabbing the £1,600 Givenchy handbag containing the 10cm tall Fabergé egg at 9.40pm, he had attempted to steal another rucksack.
Fabergé eggs were originally commissioned for Russian Tsars. Only 46 of the original imperial series remain today, many of which were sold off by Joseph Stalin in 1927 for foreign currency. Three are held in the Royal Collection.
The green and gold egg and watch were part of a limited edition made by the Russian jewellery firm in collaboration with the Craft Irish Whiskey Company, for which Ms Dawson was director of premium brands, and had both been on display at an event earlier that evening.
The bespoke seven-piece collection included a ‘Celtic’ edition Fabergé egg, a rose carat gold watch and a bottle of 30-year-old whisky.
In keeping with Fabergé tradition, the eggs contained a ‘surprise’ of a rough cut Zambian emerald inside. One set fetched $2.8million (£2.2million) at an auction in 2024.
Both the egg and watch remain missing and an inquiry continues to locate them. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is urged to contact police.
Following a police investigation, Conticello, 29, was tracked to Belfast after he was arrested on November 9, 2025 for separate theft offences.
He had provided Northern Irish police with a false name along with a matching fake Irish ID document.
Conticello appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on January 27 this year after being released from Maghaberry Prison days earlier.
He pleaded guilty to charges of theft and fraud by false representation and was sentenced on Thursday to two years and three months in prison at Southwark Crown Court
A 32-year-old man was also arrested in November 2024 on suspicion of stealing the bag and using the stolen bank cards. He was cautioned for the fraud offences but received no further sanction for the theft offence.
Another man, 25, was arrested the same month after the company which commissioned the egg was approached with questions about its value. He did not face any charges
DC Arben Morina said: ‘Conticello thought nothing of helping himself to someone else’s possessions – and he now faces a prison sentence as a result of his greed.
‘This theft has had a significant impact on the victim, who was on her way home from a work event when she was targeted.
‘The defendant never explained to the police what he did with the expensive jewellery. Our investigation to find the egg and the watch is ongoing and we’d urge anyone with information to contact us.’