The shocking moment a man swallowed a £35,000 diamond ring in an alleged bid to steal it has been caught on CCTV.
Staff at Elegance Jewellers in central London's Hatton Garden were left confused when one of the three engagement rings they were showing a man seemingly disappeared.
Junaid Hassan, 28, who runs the family business, revealed that they didn't spot the princess-cut diamond ring being taken and had to watch their CCTV to figure out what happened.
The footage shows the customer picking up the ring and swiftly putting it in his mouth before he allegedly swallows it and tries to leave.
When staff confronted the shopper about the unusual tactic, they claim he put his fingers down his throat and brought the ring back up to return it.
Junaid described the incident as "really crazy" and said that they were lucky to catch the customer in the act.
"You never know who you are sitting in front of," he said.
The engagement ring, valued at around £35,000, had a large princess-cut diamond and several other smaller diamonds along the platinum band.
Junaid's father, Syed Hussan, served the customer in June 2025 and said that the man spent two hours looking at various rings before he tried to leave.
Syed revealed that the man walked in at closing time and asked to return the next day to make a decision, but when he noticed the ring was missing, he started shouting and asking staff to check his pockets.
Due to the swiftness of the swallow, it took several watches of the CCTV to spot what happened.
After the customer regurgitated the ring, security escorted him out of the shop, and the staff are unsure what happened to him next.
The family jeweller has been operating for three generations and believes the customer must have been a professional.
Junaid decided to post the video on social media this month for awareness, and it has since gained millions of views.
