Can France Retrieve Its Precious Historic Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late?
French authorities are desperate to retrieve extremely valuable jewels stolen from the Paris museum in a daring broad daylight theft, but experts have warned it could be impossible to recover them.
Within the French capital on Sunday, burglars entered by force the most popular museum globally, making off with eight valued items then fleeing via motor scooters in a daring heist that took about eight minutes.
International art investigator an expert in the field stated publicly he suspects the stolen items could be "already dismantled", once separated into hundreds of parts.
There is a strong chance the stolen jewels could be sold off for a small part of their true price and taken out of French territory, several authorities indicated.
Potential Suspects Behind the Robbery
The thieves acted professionally, as the detective stated, as demonstrated by the way they managed through the museum of the building in record time.
"Realistically speaking, as a normal person, people don't suddenly decide one day believing, I should become a burglar, let's start with the Louvre," he explained.
"This won't be their initial robbery," he continued. "They've carried out other burglaries. They are confident and they calculated, we might get away with this plan, and proceeded."
As further evidence the skill of the group is being taken seriously, a dedicated task force with a "strong track record in solving significant crimes" has been tasked with finding them.
Police officials have said they suspect the heist is connected to a sophisticated gang.
Sophisticated gangs like these typically have two objectives, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau explained. "Either to act on behalf of a financier, or to acquire precious stones to conduct illegal financial activities."
The detective suggests it seems highly unlikely to sell the items in their original form, and he explained commissioned theft for an individual buyer is a scenario that only happens in movies.
"Nobody wants to touch an artifact so identifiable," he elaborated. "You cannot show it publicly, it cannot be passed to family, it cannot be sold."
Possible £10m Price Tag
The expert thinks the stolen items will be taken apart and broken up, including the gold and silver components melted and the gems divided into less recognizable pieces that would be virtually impossible to track back to the Paris heist.
Jewellery historian Carol Woolton, who presents the digital series about historical jewelry and formerly worked as Vogue magazine's jewelry specialist for 20 years, told the BBC the thieves had "carefully selected" the most significant treasures from the Louvre's collection.
The "impressively sized perfect gems" would likely be removed of their mountings and sold, she explained, except for the headpiece of Empress Eugénie which features less valuable pieces set in it and was "too hot to keep," she explained.
This might account for why it was dropped while fleeing, in addition to a second artifact, and located by officials.
Empress Eugenie's tiara which was stolen, features exceptionally uncommon authentic pearls which are incredibly valuable, specialists confirm.
Even though the pieces have been described as being beyond valuation, the expert believes they could be marketed for a fraction of their worth.
"They're destined to individuals who are able to acquire such items," she said. "Many people will seek for these – they'll settle for what they can get."
The precise value might they bring as payment upon being marketed? Regarding the possible worth of the stolen goods, the expert stated the dismantled components may amount to "multiple millions."
The precious stones and removed precious metal could fetch as much as ten million pounds (over eleven million euros; thirteen million dollars), according to a jewelry specialist, managing director of a prominent jeweler, an internet-based gem dealer.
He stated the thieves must have a skilled expert to extract the stones, and an expert gem cutter to change the bigger identifiable gems.
Minor components that couldn't be easily recognized could be sold quickly and despite challenges to estimate the precise value of each piece removed, the bigger stones may amount to approximately half a million pounds each, he explained.
"There are a minimum of four that large, so adding all those pieces together with the gold, you are probably reaching the estimated figure," he concluded.
"The diamond and gemstone market is active and plenty of customers operate in less regulated areas that avoid questioning too many questions."
There are hopes that the stolen goods might resurface in original condition in the future – although such expectations are diminishing as the days pass.
Similar cases have occurred – the Cartier exhibition at the London museum includes an artifact stolen in 1948 which eventually returned in a sale much later.
Definitely is many in France are deeply shocked regarding the theft, having felt an emotional attachment with the artifacts.
"We don't necessarily value gems as it symbolizes an issue of privilege, and this isn't typically receive favorable interpretation among French people," a jewelry authority, head of heritage at French jeweller the prestigious firm, explained