A Vista gem dealer and sheriff’s investigators are trying to figure out who stole museum-quality gemstones and jewelry worth $1.5 million or more from his car trunk last weekend.

Charles Lawrence told deputies he had placed a gym bag full of the valuables in the trunk of his car the evening of Jan. 9th, checked two hours later to make sure the alarm was on, and discovered his loss the next morning.

Missing are more than 200 rings, a 27-carat diamond tennis bracelet, an 18-carat sapphire and 50 other gemstones, some worth more than $45,000, he said.

“I’m still a little shocked,” Lawrence, 70, owner of Charles & Co. Estate and Fine Jewelry, said in a phone interview Friday. “I’m still trying to understand what happened ... This is an awfully big robbery.”


He said he’d accepted two dozen sapphires, diamonds and other gems and unique Art Deco-style jewelry pieces on consignment from a Tustin owner, and planned to visit jewelry dealers in Orange County on Sunday to try to sell those pieces and others.

They were not insured, but he estimated their value at $1.5 million to $2 million.

“These are rare, near-flawless, very, very, very valuable pieces of jewelry that belong in a museum,” Lawrence said. “Nothing like this has happened to me in 50 years of business.”

Lawrence is offering a reward of $5,000 to $10,000 in diamonds for return of the stolen goods.


He said he has sold several items for the consignment customer since September, and had until Jan. 15 to sell the current items. The theft occurred just five days before he would have had them sold, he said.

“She has emailed me how upset she is,” Lawrence said. “She thinks I stole this stuff. This is a very delicate situation ... I’m numb with fear and fright.”

A sheriff’s official confirmed that Lawrence reported the theft on Sunday, and detectives were investigating.

Lawrence said he and his wife keep their residence on a private Vista road a secret, and has no friends visit there, but thinks the thief must have followed him home at some point. He keeps much of his valuable stock at the San Diego Jewelers Exchange in downtown San Diego, and operates a high-end jewelry store in Bangkok.


When he went outside to his car on Sunday, the alarm appeared to be on but the passenger door had been opened, the glove compartment door was torn off at the hinges, and the back seat was pulled forward to allow access to the trunk, Lawrence said. He said he thought it was odd that a neighbor’s guard dogs had not barked loudly at any nighttime intruders.

He said the owner of the consignment items had not had them appraised or insured, but had certificates of authenticity, which also were stolen.

“I don’t have insurance on this kind of thing. It’s not possible,” Lawrence said, adding that insurance rates are typically 3 percent of the gem’s value, and he couldn’t afford it.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com