London ( CNN ) -- It was just like a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock crime caper `` To Catch a Thief . '' The same hotel . The sparkly jewels . The robbery . Only this was real life . A robber , his face covered by a hat and a scarf threatened to shoot attendees at a exhibition in Canne 's Carlton Hotel , setting of the 1955 movie , on Sunday . Within minutes he had escaped with $ 136 million worth of jewels : security guards at the show were unarmed , while the man had a semi-automatic pistol . The robbery is the third high-profile jewelery heist in Cannes in Southern France in only three months . During the Cannes film festival in May , a necklace worth $ 2.6 million ( 2 million euros ) was stolen from a hotel party shortly after more than $ 1 million worth of jewels were stolen from a safe in a hotel room . The high-profile thefts follow a brazen heist in neighboring Belgium in February . A gang of eight men managed to snatch $ 50 million worth of diamonds from a plane on Brussels Airport -- within only eight minutes . `` It comes as a big surprise that something like this is possible , '' said Jan Van der Cruysse , a spokesman for Brussels Airport . `` But of course , this is rather connected to banditism and organized crime rather than aviation security . '' Yet such incidents have a history . From 1960s gangster film-style armed robberies to elaborate stunts involving drag queens and fake beards , thieves from around the world have tried almost anything to get hold of diamonds . Here are some of the biggest heists they pulled off : . On Valentine 's Day weekend in February 2003 , $ 100 million worth of precious stones were snatched from the Antwerp Diamond Center . The thieves , headed by Leonardo Notarbartolo , reportedly managed to penetrate some of the most advanced security measures , including hi-tech combination locks , motion and heat sensors -- and 18-inch steel doors . The gangsters even changed the tapes of the security cameras in the building to avoid being identified . They did , however , make one mistake : they left behind a half-eaten sandwich with DNA samples on it . They were arrested after months-long police operation involving detectives in several countries . The jewels were never recovered . The sensational robbery inspired a book `` Flawless -- Inside the Largest Diamond heist in the History . '' In March 2007 , a man using the name Carlos Hector Flomenbaum adopted an unorthodox approach to robbery . Swapping weapons for chocolates and charm , Flomenbaum became a frequent customer at ABN Amro bank in Antwerp . Befriending the bank staff , who believed he was a successful diamond trader , he gained their trust and acquired a key to the bank 's vault . Once he had the key , he simply let himself in and walked out of the front door with 120,000 carats of diamonds , worth $ 28 million . In mid-May 2008 , four armed robbers -- two disguised as women -- walked into a jewelry store in Paris . Once inside , they pulled out their weapons , forced the customers and employees into a corner , and grabbed jewels out of display cases and safes . Swiping an estimated 80 million euros ( $ 102 million ) worth of jewels , the `` drag queen robbery '' became one of the biggest heists in history . On New Year 's Eve 2008 , two armed men casually walked into a shop called Dialite Imports , one of New York 's diamond district shops . Dressed in traditional Orthodox-jewish clothing accessorized with fake beards , they quickly gained access to the store 's safe , spray-painting two security cameras in the process . They disappeared with $ 4 million in diamonds and other jewels . The heist later turned out to be an elaborate inside job set up by the store 's co-owners , who were $ 1 million in debt , six months behind on their rent and acquired a new insurance policy shortly before the robbery . In 2009 , two sharp-suited men walked into Graff Jewellers on central London 's New Bond Street . In the middle of the afternoon , with people walking on the streets outside , they threatened employees with handguns and managed to steal 43 items , with a value of about £40 million ( $ 65 million ) . In 1994 three men armed with a machine gun stormed into the Carlton Hotel in Cannes , France . They stole jewels valued at £30 million ( $ 43 million ) from a jewelry shop in the hotel . Reportedly , the rounds they had been firing were blanks -- which did not prevent them from gaining the world 's biggest gems robbery record in Guinness Book of Records .
$ 50 million worth of diamonds were stolen from a plane on Brussels Airport . Comment: In 2003 , $ 100 million worth of diamonds were snatched from Antwerp Diamond Center .