Moet & Chandon has been doing a big push with the awards ceremonies lately.

They had a red carpet presence at the Golden Globes and now they been designated the exclusive champagne of the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

Moet & Chandon’s flagship champagne, Moet & Chandon White Star, will be showcased along with other qualities from the maison, including Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage, Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial and Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial, at the Academy’s premiere events.

Thieves who dug an underground tunnel to a Milan showroom have stolen several million euros of jewellery.

Seven men dressed as police came through the cellar wall, tied up staff and made off with some of Damiani’s most valuable pieces in minutes. Before Sunday’s real-life Italian Job, they had dug for several weeks from a building under construction next door.

Luckily for the showroom, some of its most valuable pieces were on display at the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles.

The thieves tied the staff up with plastic cable and sticky tape. They then locked everyone in the bathroom except the manager, who was taken to the safety deposit room and forced to empty the lockers.

Although some of the showroom’s jewellery was gracing the red carpet thousands of miles away, there was nonetheless plenty left in Milan.

The real value of the pieces stolen is not yet known as a list is still being compiled.
But it is thought to be millions of pounds worth of gold earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings - all of them studded with diamonds.

Resale value for Oscars won after 1950 are limited because the Academy makes all winning celebrities sign an agreement that if they want to sell they have to first offer the statue back to them for $1.

Based on the current price of the gold if melted down each Oscar is worth about $500.

If sold on the sly (or for pre-1950 Oscars that can be sold in the open) big-name Oscars will easily clear $60,000+, with many hitting 6 figures. Via Luxist & environmentalgraffiti