Will France Recover Its Precious Historic Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late?
French authorities are urgently trying to locate extremely valuable jewels robbed from the Louvre in a daring daylight robbery, but experts are concerned it may already be past the point of recovery to get them back.
At the heart of Paris on Sunday, burglars gained access to the top tourist attraction worldwide, taking eight cherished pieces then fleeing on scooters in a audacious theft that took about eight minutes.
Dutch art detective a renowned specialist told the BBC he believes the artifacts may already be "already dismantled", having been broken up into numerous components.
There is a strong chance the stolen jewels will be sold for a fraction of their worth and illegally transported from France, additional specialists noted.
Potential Suspects Behind the Theft
The perpetrators acted professionally, Mr Brand believes, shown by the way they managed through the museum of the building with such efficiency.
"Realistically speaking, for regular people, one doesn't just get up overnight planning, I will become a burglar, choosing as first target the Louvre Museum," he explained.
"This isn't their initial robbery," he continued. "They have done other burglaries. They're self-assured and they thought, it might work out with this, and went for it."
As further evidence the skill of the gang is being taken seriously, an elite police team with a "proven effectiveness in resolving high-profile robberies" has been given responsibility with tracking them down.
Law enforcement have said they suspect the robbery is connected to a sophisticated gang.
Criminal organizations of this type usually pursue two primary purposes, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau explained. "Either they operate on behalf of a client, or to obtain valuable gems to perform financial crimes."
The detective suggests it seems highly unlikely to market the jewels intact, and he said commissioned theft for a specific client is a scenario that only happens in movies.
"Nobody wants to acquire an artifact so identifiable," he explained. "It cannot be shown publicly, you can't bequeath it to family, there's no market for it."
Potential £10m Price Tag
The expert thinks the artifacts will be dismantled and disassembled, including the gold and silver melted down and the gems divided into less recognizable pieces that could be nearly impossible to track back to the museum theft.
Jewellery historian a renowned expert, who presents the podcast about historical jewelry and was the famous fashion magazine's jewelry specialist for 20 years, told the BBC the perpetrators had "cherry-picked" the most important jewels from the institution's artifacts.
The "beautiful large perfect gems" will probably be removed from the jewelry pieces and marketed, she noted, with the exception of the tiara belonging to the historical figure which contains smaller gems mounted in it and proved to be "too dangerous to possess," she added.
This potentially clarifies why they left it behind while fleeing, in addition to one other item, and located by officials.
The imperial headpiece that was taken, has rare organic pearls which are incredibly valuable, authorities indicate.
Although the artifacts are considered having immeasurable worth, the expert expects them could be marketed for a fraction of their worth.
"They'll likely end up to buyers who is willing to acquire such items," she stated. "Authorities worldwide will search for these – the thieves will accept whatever price is offered."
How much exactly would they generate as payment upon being marketed? Regarding the potential value of the loot, Mr Brand stated the dismantled components might value "several million."
The gems and taken gold might achieve up to a significant sum (€11.52m; $13.4m), stated by an industry expert, managing director of 77 Diamonds, an online jeweller.
He told the BBC the perpetrators would need a skilled expert to remove the gems, and a professional diamond cutter to change the bigger identifiable gems.
Less noticeable gems that couldn't be easily recognized could be sold immediately and despite challenges to determine the specific worth of all the stones stolen, the more significant gems could be worth about half a million pounds per stone, he explained.
"We know there are no fewer than four comparable in size, therefore combining all those pieces together with the gold, it's likely approaching ten million," he said.
"The jewelry and luxury goods trade has buyers and plenty of customers operate on the fringes that won't inquire about origins."
Some optimism remains that the items might resurface in original condition in the future – yet this possibility are fading as the days pass.
Historical examples exist – a jewelry display at the London museum features an item of jewellery stolen in 1948 which eventually returned in an auction many years after.
What is certain includes the French public are deeply shocked about the museum robbery, expressing a cultural bond with the artifacts.
"We don't necessarily like jewellery as it symbolizes a question of authority, and this isn't typically have a good connotation in France," Alexandre Leger, head of heritage at Parisian jewelry house the prestigious firm, explained
