(Boska Holland)
The great train robbery, the Gardner Museum heist, the disappearance of the Jules Rimet Trophy.
Now add the Otazu cheese slicer to the list of the world's most notorious robberies. That's right, a cheese slicer valued at over $28,000 and covered in 220 diamonds was lifted from the Amsterdam Cheese Museum late last month and cops in the Netherlands are at a loss for where this valuable piece of cutlery might have gotten to.
The costly cutter was introduced to a cheese-hungry public in 2007 as part of a collaboration between cheese tool producer Boska Holland and Argentinian jewelry designer Rodrigo Otazu, whose work has appeared on the bodies of stars such as Britney Spears and Madonna.
Since it emerged into the world, the slicer has been highly valued by cheese aficionados, but Boska Holland decided that instead of selling it, the company would let the Dutch museum put it on display for all cheese lovers to admire.
"This is the finest and most expensive cheese slicer in the world," said Martijn Bos, CEO of Boska in a press release. "We are doing our best to make the world familiar with the experience of eating cheese. Our core business is to manufacture and sell cheesewares, but we also engage in creative collaborations with the purpose of making cheese cool. This was the case with the Otazu slicer."
According to cheese experts, a slicer is an important part of properly enjoying the dairy delicacy as the tool slices the cheese thin and exposes it to oxygen, which aerates the cheese and enhances its flavor.
Before the cheese burglar was able to make off with Boska Holland's prized possession, the slicer was housed in the museum's basement in a locked display cabinet. The museum and Boska Holland immediately alerted police to the missing slicer and video surveillance footage was quickly recovered with a sketch being drawn up of the alleged thief.
"At first I thought that the theft was a cheesy joke because after all, we are only a month from April Fool's Day, but that was not so," Bos said.
Before its theft, the cheese slicer was on exhibit at the Millionaire fair in Russia and was slated to be one of the main features at the Chicago Housewares Fair and the upcoming Amsterdam Affairs Party in New York.
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