🔗 Share this article

French authorities are making every effort to recover extremely valuable gemstones robbed from the Louvre Museum in a brazen broad daylight theft, yet authorities caution it might be too late to recover them.

Within the French capital on Sunday, burglars entered by force the world's most-visited museum, taking eight precious artifacts before escaping using scooters in a daring heist that lasted approximately just minutes.

International art investigator a renowned specialist told the BBC he believes the artifacts are likely "dispersed", having been broken up into many fragments.

There is a strong chance the stolen jewels may be disposed of for a mere percentage of their value and smuggled out of French territory, several authorities have said.

Possible Culprits Behind the Heist

The perpetrators are experienced criminals, as the detective stated, shown by the way they managed through the museum of the Louvre so quickly.

"As you might expect, for an average individual, one doesn't just get up overnight planning, I will become a burglar, and begin with the world-famous museum," he noted.

"This isn't the first time they've done this," he continued. "They've carried out previous crimes. They're self-assured and they calculated, it might work out with this plan, and took the chance."

In another sign the skill of the gang is being taken seriously, an elite police team with a "proven effectiveness in resolving significant crimes" has been assigned with finding them.

Police officials have said they think the robbery is linked to a sophisticated gang.

Organised crime groups such as these typically have two primary purposes, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau explained. "Either they operate on behalf of a financier, or to acquire valuable gems to perform illegal financial activities."

The expert believes it would be highly unlikely to sell the items intact, and he noted targeted robbery for an individual buyer is something that only happens in fictional stories.

"Nobody wants to touch a piece this recognizable," he explained. "You can't display it publicly, you cannot leave it to your children, you cannot sell it."

Possible £10m Worth

The detective suggests the objects will be taken apart and broken up, along with gold elements and silver melted down and the gems divided into smaller stones that would be nearly impossible to trace back to the Paris heist.

Historical jewelry specialist a renowned expert, who presents the audio program focusing on gemstones and was the prestigious publication's gemstone expert for 20 years, told the BBC the robbers had "cherry-picked" the most significant gemstones from the museum's holdings.

The "impressively sized flawless stones" would likely be dug out from the jewelry pieces and disposed of, she said, excluding the headpiece of the French empress which has smaller stones mounted in it and proved to be "too hot to possess," she continued.

This might account for why they left it behind as they got away, along with a second artifact, and found by authorities.

Empress Eugenie's tiara which was stolen, features exceptionally uncommon organic pearls which have a very large value, authorities indicate.

While the items are regarded as being priceless, the historian anticipates they could be marketed for a minimal part of their true price.

"They're destined to buyers who are able to acquire such items," she explained. "Everyone will be looking for these items – they will take what they can get."

How much exactly might they bring as payment if sold on? Regarding the estimated price of the haul, Mr Brand indicated the cut-up parts could be worth "multiple millions."

The jewels and gold stolen might achieve as much as a significant sum (€11.52m; millions in US currency), says Tobias Kormind, chief executive of a prominent jeweler, a digital jewelry retailer.

He told the BBC the perpetrators would need an experienced professional to separate the jewels, and an expert gem cutter to change the more noticeable pieces.

Smaller stones that were harder to trace would be disposed of right away and while it was hard to estimate the exact price of all the stones stolen, the bigger stones could be worth approximately half a million pounds per stone, he said.

"We know there are no fewer than four of that size, therefore combining each of them up plus the gold, you are probably reaching £10m," he concluded.

"The diamond and precious stone industry has buyers and there are many buyers on the fringes that won't inquire too many questions."

There are hopes that the artifacts might resurface undamaged eventually – but those hopes are diminishing as the days pass.

Similar cases have occurred – a historical showcase at the cultural institution includes an item of jewellery stolen in 1948 that later resurfaced in a public event several decades later.

Without doubt includes the French public feel profoundly disturbed about the museum robbery, expressing a cultural bond toward the treasures.

"We don't necessarily appreciate jewelry as it symbolizes an issue of power, and which doesn't always receive favorable interpretation within French culture," a jewelry authority, director of historical collections at Parisian jewelry house the historical business, explained