Is France Able to Recover Its Precious Crown Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late?
Police in France are desperate to locate extremely valuable gemstones taken from the Louvre in a brazen daytime heist, yet authorities caution it may already be too late to recover them.
In Paris on Sunday, robbers broke into the top tourist attraction worldwide, stealing eight cherished pieces before escaping using scooters in a bold robbery that took about eight minutes.
Dutch art detective an expert in the field told the BBC he suspects the stolen items may already be "long gone", once separated into numerous components.
There is a strong chance the pieces could be sold off for a small part of their true price and illegally transported from the country, other experts noted.
Who May Be Behind the Heist
The group are experienced criminals, as the detective stated, evidenced by the way they managed inside and outside of the Louvre in record time.
"As you might expect, as a normal person, one doesn't just get up overnight planning, I'm going to become a burglar, let's start with the Louvre Museum," he noted.
"This won't be the first time they've done this," he added. "They have done things before. They feel certain and they believed, we could succeed with this, and took the chance."
In another sign the professionalism of the gang is being taken seriously, an elite police team with a "high success rate in cracking major theft cases" has been tasked with locating the perpetrators.
Authorities have said they think the heist is linked to a criminal organization.
Sophisticated gangs of this type typically have two main goals, French prosecutor a senior official explained. "Either to act on behalf of a financier, or to acquire precious stones to perform financial crimes."
The expert believes it would be extremely difficult to sell the items as complete pieces, and he noted stealing-to-order for a private collector represents a situation that only happens in Hollywood films.
"Nobody wants to handle a piece so hot," he elaborated. "It cannot be shown publicly, you cannot leave it to family, you cannot sell it."
Estimated £10m Price Tag
Mr Brand believes the objects will be dismantled and disassembled, with the gold and silver components melted and the gems cut up into less recognizable pieces that could be extremely difficult to trace back to the Louvre robbery.
Gemstone expert an authority in the field, who presents the podcast focusing on gemstones and was the prestigious publication's gemstone expert for two decades, explained the robbers had "specifically chosen" the most significant treasures from the museum's holdings.
The "magnificent perfect gems" would likely be removed from the jewelry pieces and marketed, she said, with the exception of the headpiece of the French empress which contains smaller gems mounted in it and was "too recognizable to possess," she explained.
This potentially clarifies why it was dropped during the escape, together with one other item, and located by officials.
Empress Eugenie's tiara that was taken, contains extremely rare organic pearls which command enormous prices, specialists confirm.
While the items have been described as being priceless, Ms Woolton believes they to be sold for a fraction of their worth.
"They're destined to individuals who are able to acquire such items," she said. "Everyone will be looking for these – the thieves will accept whatever price is offered."
What specific amount would they generate financially upon being marketed? Regarding the estimated price of the haul, the detective indicated the cut-up parts may amount to "multiple millions."
The gems and gold stolen might achieve approximately ten million pounds (€11.52m; $13.4m), stated by an industry expert, senior official of an established company, an internet-based gem dealer.
The expert explained the perpetrators will require a skilled expert to extract the stones, and an expert gem cutter to modify the bigger identifiable gems.
Minor components that were harder to trace could be sold quickly and although difficult to determine the exact price of all the stones removed, the more significant gems might value around half a million pounds for individual pieces, he noted.
"There are no fewer than four comparable in size, therefore combining all of those together with the precious metal, one could estimate approaching £10m," he concluded.
"The gemstone and luxury goods trade is active and there are many buyers on the fringes that avoid questioning regarding sources."
There are hopes that the artifacts may be found in original condition one day – but those hopes are diminishing as the days pass.
Historical examples exist – the Cartier exhibition at the V&A Museum features an item of jewellery previously stolen before reappearing in a public event several decades later.
Definitely includes the French public feel profoundly disturbed by the Louvre heist, expressing a personal connection toward the treasures.
"There isn't always like jewellery because it's a question of power, and this isn't typically receive favorable interpretation among French people," a jewelry authority, director of historical collections at French jeweller Maison Vever, said
