A different kind of jewelry ring

The Bling Ring cast

The movie tells the story of the “Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch,” a group of teenagers from Los Angeles who managed to nab $3 million in jewelry, cash and designer goods from the homes of celebrities, just by tracking their whereabouts on social media sites.

Here’s the real-life backstory: in 2009, thieves from L.A. burglarized the homes of six well-known Hollywood-residing stars, including Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox and Audrina Patridge.

The thieves were a group of 18- and 19-year-olds who had an extreme obsession with celebrities and the Hollywood lifestyle. News publications, including The New York Times, dubbed the clan “The Bling Ring.”

The Bling Ring crew used Internet sources, including Twitter and Google Earth, to track where celebrities were and especially where they weren’t--like at home. Gathering information on when the stars were out, they would ransack the multimillion-dollar homes for jewelry, cash and other luxury items that could be grabbed.

The real Bling Ring crew

Heiress and socialite Hilton was robbed at least five times of $2 million in jewelry, as well as designer clothes and bags. Not known for her intellect, the star said she was unaware her home had been broken into until she noticed how many pieces of jewelry she was missing.

In addition, a Rolex watch collection estimated at half a million dollars was taken from Bloom’s pad.

I’ll leave a bit of allure to the movie and keep quiet about how the crew eventually gets caught.

The Bling Ring movie features Harry Potter star Emma Watson, Knocked Up co-star Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga, Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Claire Pfister, Georgia Rock and Carlos Miranda. It’s directed by Sofia Coppola.

The Bling Ring movie poster

There are two lessons to be learned from this illegal Ring: be careful what you share on social media and make sure you have insurance for your personal jewelry. “Quite often we see that high-profile individuals put systems in place to protect themselves, such as body guards, alarm systems, and security cameras. Unfortunately, what we’ve found is their management teams often neglect to insure their personal assets such as watches, jewelry, keepsakes, awards … The same is true for jewelers. We find they take many precautions in the store, and less in their personal lives,” said Patricia Low, president and CEO of Jewelers Unblocked.