Armed men stole jewellery worth $1.5 million – during showing.

• Swedish stamp sold for world record price
• Picasso and Matisse masterpieces nicked from Paris museum

Bukowskis, one of Sweden’s most well-known auction houses, was raided during its spring auction showing Thursday. Three armed thieves stole jewellery worth 12 million kronor ($1.5 million). Around 50 people were inside the building at the time.

"Three armed men go into the auction house with firearms. They come out after a short while and run into a parked car and flee in it. When we come into contact with the staff, we are informed that no one has been physically harmed," Björn Engström at the Stockholm police told the TT newswire.

The jewellery was set to go under the hammer at Bukowskis' classic spring auction, June 1st-4th. They were insured by Lloyd's of London.

"A showing was being conducted when the robbery occurred. They took jewellery with a reserve price of 12 million kronor," said Charlotte Bergström, CIO at Bukowskis, to the tabloid Aftonbladet.

Some of the people in the auction house were being treated for shock.

The Bukowskis Auction House in central Stockholm was founded in 1870 by the exiled Polish nobleman Henryk Bukowski. The famous Swedish advertising man Michael Storåkers was resently appointed as the auction house’s new chief executive officer.