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Thread: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

  1. #76
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    I had been wondering what happened with this story. Funny to see that if we had hung in with the thread just a few more days we"d have seen the thieves got caught. Nice to see how fast this case came to court and was decided. It seems the wheels of justice turn much more quickly there than here. I don't buy much of their story either. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn their flat was "burglarized" by an associate.
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  2. #77
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Well, the missing Strad is still at large, so we haven't heard the end of the tale yet. I sure hope these jokers didn't stuff the violin in a dustbin somewhere.
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  3. #78
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Missing Strad recovered after three years:

    http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime...t-8737440.html
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    Middle-Aged Old-Timer Tobin's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    “We are looking forward to the outcome of our experts’ assessment on the condition of the instrument so we can then liaise with Ms Kym with regards to purchasing back the Stradivari.”
    What the??? Did I read that correctly? She has to BUY it back?

  5. #80
    Formerly F5JOURNL Darryl Wolfe's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Quote Originally Posted by Tobin View Post
    What the??? Did I read that correctly? She has to BUY it back?
    She was likely paid insurance...which means the insurance company will own it
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  6. #81
    Registered User houseworker's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Quote Originally Posted by Tobin View Post
    What the??? Did I read that correctly? She has to BUY it back?
    She's had an insurance payout on the violin, so she'll need to buy it back from the insurance company. All standard practice.

  7. #82
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    I visited the scene of this crime today. There should be a plaque or something.

    Pret a Manger is just outside Euston Station itself, across a courtyard in a building with three other shops, or thereabouts.

    Min Kym is the author of a new autobiography, Gone, which talks about how the theft affected her along with other aspects of her life story: https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...rodigy-passion
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  8. #83
    wood butcher Spruce's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Quote Originally Posted by Ed Goist View Post
    If I were in possession of a $1.9Mil instrument...
    $1.9Mil is actually quite cheap for a decent Strad these days?

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  10. #84
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Quote Originally Posted by Spruce View Post
    $1.9Mil is actually quite cheap for a decent Strad these days?
    That was my first thought upon coming back to this thread after a few years.
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  11. #85

    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    For me, what makes these stories so interesting is the value of the item being carried around and used without any particular concern other than having insurance -- no armed guards, Brinks truck, Secret Service, GPS, etc.......,

    Of course, the same could be said of women's wedding rings, especially older women who have worn the same ring for 50-60 years -- more than likely without any knowledge of its current value.

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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    I just got back from London, and there are people carrying violin cases everywhere you look. It's a lot more common sight than in the U.S. Just dumb luck that this particular case happened to have a Strad in it.

    Of course, we also discussed the more recent theft of Frank Almond's Strad, which differs in that he actually was targeted because he had a Strad, and that there was a GPS tracker in the case, although not in the violin itself. But even in that case, the thief had no real concept of what he was going to do with a Strad once he had obtained it.
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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Well, it's going to cost me some overdue fees at the library, but I finished reading Min Kym's book today, which finally tells her side of the tale. It's actually quite a good read.

    Long story, but she wasn't able to buy back the Strad, although at the end of the book she's starting to settle down with an Amati and get back to performing.

    Certain aspects of the press coverage just weren't accurate, according to Kym, but you'll have to read the book to find out why.
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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Any truth to the story she had an Android phone and not an iPhone?
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    Any truth to the story she had an Android phone and not an iPhone?
    oooh, I can see the TV ad campaign right now ...

  17. #90
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Quote Originally Posted by jesserules View Post
    oooh, I can see the TV ad campaign right now ...
    "So captivating, you won't notice a Strad being stolen!" Something like that?

    She doesn't say anything about her phone, but she does claim that she ordered a meatball sandwich, not cheese and pickle. Which makes a world of difference.

    Seriously, in the book she says she didn't give interviews about the the theft when it happened, so there's a certain amount of conjecture in the way it was reported in the news. We shouldn't assume we know what went down until we have read the book.
    Last edited by mrmando; Oct-18-2017 at 6:55pm.
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  19. #91
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmando View Post
    "So captivating, you won't notice a Strad being stolen!" Something like that?

    .
    Yeah, going for kind of a Mentos vibe - whacky cartoon thieves making off with first a violin, then a double bass, finally a piano ... all while the owner stands there absorbed in the amazing features of their new BRAND NAME HERE phone ...

    The book sounds interesting, will check it out.

  20. #92
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    If you don't have time for Kym's book, it turns out that she was interviewed for the "Case Notes" podcast on ClassicFM:
    https://www.blogtalkradio.com/dax-gl...n-stradivarius

    It's very interesting (at least to me) to hear Kym discussing the theft. Perhaps it goes without saying that she frames it much differently than the newspapers did at the time. She makes a couple of oblique references to the boyfriend who was supposed to be keeping his eye on the violin for a few minutes in the sandwich shop ... but one gets the sense that she'd prefer to talk about him as little as possible.
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    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    If people play instruments, they carry them around. A young woman musician, who'd been awarded a year's loan of a priceless violin, said on the radio that she covered its case with "Hello Kitty" and similar stickers, so that if someone found it, they'd assume that it was a school kid's violin, not worth much. She added that if she was going to play it, she had to get used to transporting it around town. I tend to keep an eye on my things when I'm out in the world. A great many people around me don't, and I'm less than perfect about this habit -- I'm not likely to take my instruments to the washroom with me. Every year, the Toronto Transit Commission auctions off unclaimed violins and guitars found on buses and subway trains, and never claimed. By the way, as others have said, all the speculation here might inspire a good novel, but then Mandolin Cafe might demand a share of the royalties.
    Last edited by Ranald; Apr-20-2022 at 5:14pm.
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    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  22. #94
    Registered User j4music's Avatar
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    Default Re: $1.9 million Strad stolen while violinist checked her iPhone

    [QUOTE=mrmando;186351. She makes a couple of oblique references to the boyfriend who was supposed to be keeping his eye on the violin for a few minutes in the sandwich shop ... but one gets the sense that she'd prefer to talk about him as little as possible.[/QUOTE

    It's been a while since I read the book - very sad story but highly recommended. My recollection is that she blamed him for the loss and the incident ended their relationship. Basically, she supported her family since she was a very young child and her sense of identity was heavily connected to the Strad. The loss was devastating. She accepted the insurance payout to be practical, but by the time the Strad was recovered, the market had passed her pocket book by and she was never able to recover it.

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