Can France Recover Its Invaluable Royal Gems – Or Has It Become Too Late?
Law enforcement in France are desperate to locate extremely valuable jewels taken from the Louvre Museum in a daring daytime heist, but experts are concerned it could be too late to recover them.
Within the French capital on Sunday, thieves gained access to the most popular museum globally, stealing eight precious artifacts then fleeing using scooters in a bold robbery that lasted approximately just minutes.
International art investigator Arthur Brand expressed his view he suspects the stolen items could be "dispersed", having been broken up into many fragments.
It is highly likely the artifacts will be sold for a mere percentage of their value and taken out of France, other experts have said.
Possible Culprits Behind the Robbery
The thieves acted professionally, according to the expert, evidenced by the way they managed in and out of the museum in record time.
"As you might expect, for an average individual, people don't suddenly decide overnight believing, I should become a burglar, let's start with the Louvre Museum," he explained.
"This won't be the first time they've done this," he continued. "They've carried out previous crimes. They're self-assured and they thought, we could succeed with this attempt, and went for it."
In another sign the professionalism of the thieves is treated as important, an elite police team with a "proven effectiveness in cracking high-profile robberies" has been assigned with finding them.
Police officials have stated they suspect the robbery is linked to an organised crime network.
Sophisticated gangs like these usually pursue two primary purposes, Paris prosecutor a senior official stated. "Either they operate working for a financier, or to obtain expensive jewelry to carry out money laundering operations."
The detective suggests it seems impossible to dispose of the artifacts as complete pieces, and he explained targeted robbery for a private collector represents a situation that typically occurs in Hollywood films.
"No one desires to handle an item this recognizable," he stated. "You can't display it to your friends, you can't bequeath it to your children, there's no market for it."
Possible £10m Price Tag
The expert thinks the stolen items will be dismantled and broken up, along with gold elements and precious metals liquefied and the precious stones cut up into smaller stones that would be extremely difficult to track back to the Louvre robbery.
Jewellery historian Carol Woolton, who presents the audio program focusing on gemstones and formerly worked as Vogue magazine's jewellery editor for 20 years, stated the thieves had "specifically chosen" the most important gemstones from the Louvre's collection.
The "magnificent exquisite jewels" will probably be removed of their mountings and disposed of, she noted, with the exception of the tiara belonging to the French empress which features less valuable pieces incorporated within it and was considered "too recognizable to handle," she added.
This could explain why they left it behind while fleeing, along with a second artifact, and recovered by police.
Empress Eugenie's tiara which was stolen, contains extremely rare natural pearls which command enormous prices, specialists confirm.
Even though the pieces have been described as being beyond valuation, Ms Woolton anticipates they to be sold for a fraction of their worth.
"They're destined to buyers who are able to handle these," she stated. "Authorities worldwide will search for these items – they will take whatever price is offered."
The precise value might they bring in money if sold on? Concerning the possible worth of the loot, the detective stated the cut-up parts might value "multiple millions."
The precious stones and taken gold may bring up to £10 million (€11.52m; $13.4m), according to a jewelry specialist, managing director of a prominent jeweler, a digital jewelry retailer.
He told the BBC the perpetrators must have an experienced professional to extract the stones, and a professional diamond cutter to change the bigger identifiable gems.
Smaller stones that couldn't be easily recognized could be sold immediately and despite challenges to tell the exact price of all the stones taken, the bigger stones could be worth approximately half a million pounds each, he noted.
"There are no fewer than four comparable in size, therefore combining each of them together with the gold, one could estimate approaching the estimated figure," he said.
"The gemstone and luxury goods trade is active and there are many buyers in less regulated areas that won't inquire regarding sources."
There are hopes that the items could reappear in original condition eventually – although such expectations are narrowing over time.
Similar cases have occurred – the Cartier exhibition at the V&A Museum features a piece of jewelry taken decades ago which eventually returned in a sale many years after.
What is certain are numerous French citizens are extremely upset about the museum robbery, having felt an emotional attachment with the artifacts.
"There isn't always like jewellery because it's a matter concerning power, and this isn't typically receive favorable interpretation in France," a jewelry authority, director of historical collections at established French company the historical business, stated
