mm-news-@dmin Crown Jewels heist: Royal inventory stolen from Louvre
Thieves stole a treasure trove of historic French royal jewelry in the Louvre Museum on Sunday, October 19, in a daring brazen daylight robbery that lasted only several minutes.
Authorities describe the objects as “priceless” and of “inestimable” heritage value, but the heist raises urgent questions about the future of these historically significant pieces.
The theft targeted the Apollo Gallery, home to France’s crown jewels.
The thieves entered the museum through a first-floor window through a mechanical lift, and forced their way inside using power tools and got away on motorbikes in an operation that lasted four minutes.
As reported by France’s Ministry of Culture, the thieves managed to rob and steal eight particular objects from two high-security display cases.
The ninth item, the Crown of Empress Eugénie, was dropped during the thieves’ escape and later found outside the museum.
The confirmed stolen items include:
- Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense’s tiara, sapphire necklace, and a sapphire earring from a pair
- Empress Marie-Louise’s emerald necklace and a pair of emerald necklace
- Empress Eugénie’s tiara, large bodice knot brooch
- An additional reliquary brooch
Officials have not assigned any market value to these stolen jewels emphasizing that they have incalculable historical and cultural worth.
The Interior Ministry stated, “Beyond their market value, these items have priceless heritage and historical value.”
But experts estimated the value using materials involved. The recovered Crown of Empress Eugénie contains 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, highlighting the immense material value of the treasures the thieves stole.
Sotheby’s estimates the world-famous Regent Diamond to be worth around $92 million.
What will happen next?
Governments and art crime analysts are currently in a dilemma as to what happens to the jewels. Most experts agree that they are too well-known to be sold as a whole.
Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, stated that the jewels might never be seen again.
“Professional crews often break down and re-cut large, recognizable stones to evade detection, effectively erasing their provenance,” he added.
Art detective Arthur Brand stated that it was a “race against time.”
He said, “If there’s some gold and silver, they can melt it down… they might have dismantled these objects and sold the diamonds separately by then.”
This process would radically decrease the worth of jewels. Margo van Felius, a lecturer in organized crime, explained that the jewels hold historical value beyond their stones, and if broken for extraction, they would lose provenance and significant worth.
French president Emmanuel Macron has vowed to recover the stolen jewelry.
However, since the thieves remain at large, many fear that these pieces of French imperial history could be lost forever, dismantled for their raw gems and precious metals.
