🔗 Share this article

Police in France are making every effort to recover irreplaceable treasures stolen from the Louvre in a audacious broad daylight theft, yet authorities are concerned it might be too late to recover them.

Within the French capital over the weekend, thieves broke into the most popular museum globally, taking eight precious artifacts then fleeing using scooters in a bold robbery that lasted approximately eight minutes.

Expert art detective Arthur Brand stated publicly he suspects the stolen items are likely "long gone", having been broken up into hundreds of parts.

Experts suggest the artifacts could be sold off for a mere percentage of their value and illegally transported from French territory, additional specialists indicated.

Potential Suspects Behind the Heist

The group acted professionally, Mr Brand believes, evidenced by the fact they were in and out of the Louvre in record time.

"As you might expect, as a normal person, you don't wake up one day thinking, I will become a thief, let's start with the world-famous museum," he noted.

"This likely isn't their initial robbery," he continued. "They've carried out other burglaries. They feel certain and they calculated, it might work out with this, and proceeded."

In another sign the expertise of the thieves is considered significant, an elite police team with a "high success rate in solving high-profile robberies" has been given responsibility with finding them.

Authorities have stated they suspect the heist is connected to an organised crime network.

Organised crime groups such as these generally have two objectives, Paris prosecutor a senior official explained. "Either they operate for the benefit of a financier, or to acquire expensive jewelry to perform illegal financial activities."

Mr Brand thinks it would be extremely difficult to sell the items as complete pieces, and he said commissioned theft for a specific client is a scenario that typically occurs in Hollywood films.

"Nobody wants to touch a piece so identifiable," he explained. "It cannot be shown to acquaintances, it cannot be passed to family, you cannot sell it."

Estimated £10m Price Tag

The expert thinks the stolen items are likely broken down and separated, with the gold and precious metals liquefied and the jewels re-cut into smaller stones that could be virtually impossible to connect to the Paris heist.

Gemstone expert a renowned expert, creator of the digital series If Jewels Could Talk and previously served as the prestigious publication's jewellery editor for many years, explained the robbers had "carefully selected" the most valuable gemstones from the institution's artifacts.

The "magnificent perfect gems" are expected to be dug out from their settings and marketed, she explained, excluding the headpiece of the historical figure which has smaller stones incorporated within it and was considered "too hot to possess," she added.

This might account for why it was dropped during the escape, along with one other item, and located by officials.

The imperial headpiece which was stolen, features exceptionally uncommon natural pearls which command enormous prices, specialists confirm.

Even though the pieces are considered being priceless, Ms Woolton expects them will be disposed of for a minimal part of their true price.

"They're destined to buyers who is willing to handle these," she explained. "Everyone will be looking for the stolen goods – they'll settle for any amount available."

What specific amount would they generate in money upon being marketed? Concerning the possible worth of the stolen goods, the expert said the cut-up parts may amount to "several million."

The jewels and removed precious metal might achieve as much as £10 million (millions in euros; $13.4m), according to a jewelry specialist, managing director of a prominent jeweler, a digital jewelry retailer.

The expert explained the perpetrators would need an experienced professional to remove the gems, and a professional diamond cutter to alter the more noticeable pieces.

Smaller stones that were not easily identifiable might be marketed immediately and although difficult to tell the precise value of all the stones stolen, the larger ones may amount to approximately a significant amount each, he noted.

"There are at least four of that size, so adding each of them together with the gold components, one could estimate coming close to ten million," he said.

"The jewelry and gemstone market has buyers and numerous purchasers exist on the fringes that won't inquire about origins."

There are hopes that the items may be found in original condition in the future – but those hopes are narrowing over time.

There is a precedent – the Cartier exhibition at the V&A Museum displays a piece of jewelry taken decades ago which eventually returned in a sale much later.

Definitely is many in France feel profoundly disturbed about the museum robbery, expressing a cultural bond toward the treasures.

"French people don't always appreciate jewelry as it symbolizes an issue of authority, and this isn't typically receive favorable interpretation in France," Alexandre Leger, head of heritage at established French company the prestigious firm, stated