CALVIN KLEIN SAY DI PEARL DEM INA LUPITA DRESS NEVER REAL

It’s turning into the greatest Oscar story in years. Lupita Nyong’o’s stolen Oscar dress — which was reportedly worth between $150,000 and $10 MILLION — appears to be all smoke and mirrors.

TMZ broke the story … the thief called us Friday afternoon and said he took 2 of the pearls down to the Garment District in L.A. and learned they were fake. That’s when he returned the dress to the hotel.

Law enforcement sources tell us … Calvin Klein’s people never told them if the pearls were real or fake. We’re told the only person who represented the pearls as real and valued the dress at $150K was Lupita’s stylist.

A source directly connected with the Women’s Creative Director of Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa, put it this way to TMZ, “Did anyone ever say they were real from Calvin Klein? I always assumed everyone knew they were fake, but I guess not.”

The source awesomely adds, “Do they really make dresses out of real jewels since Cleopatra died?”