Will France Recover Its Priceless Crown Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late?

French authorities are making every effort to locate priceless jewels stolen from the Paris museum in a audacious broad daylight theft, although specialists caution it may already be too late to recover them.

Within the French capital on Sunday, thieves gained access to the top tourist attraction worldwide, stealing eight valued items and getting away using scooters in a bold robbery that took about just minutes.

Expert art detective Arthur Brand told the BBC he feared the artifacts may already be "long gone", after being taken apart into hundreds of parts.

It is highly likely the artifacts may be disposed of for a fraction of their worth and smuggled out of France, additional specialists noted.

Who May Be Behind the Robbery

The perpetrators are experienced criminals, Mr Brand believes, shown by the fact they were in and out of the Louvre in record time.

"Realistically speaking, for an average individual, you don't wake up one day believing, I will become a burglar, choosing as first target the world-famous museum," he said.

"This isn't their first heist," he said. "They've committed other burglaries. They are confident and they thought, we could succeed with this plan, and took the chance."

In another sign the expertise of the thieves is treated as important, a specialist police unit with a "high success rate in resolving major theft cases" has been assigned with tracking them down.

Police officials have said they believe the theft relates to a criminal organization.

Sophisticated gangs of this type generally have two main goals, legal official a senior official explained. "Either to act for the benefit of a sponsor, or to secure valuable gems to conduct money laundering operations."

The expert believes it would be highly unlikely to sell the items in their original form, and he said commissioned theft for a specific client is a scenario that only happens in fictional stories.

"No one desires to handle an artifact this recognizable," he elaborated. "You can't display it publicly, it cannot be passed to heirs, you cannot sell it."

Possible £10m Value

The expert thinks the stolen items will be dismantled and disassembled, including the gold and silver melted down and the gems divided into smaller components that could be extremely difficult to track back to the Paris heist.

Historical jewelry specialist a renowned expert, who presents the digital series If Jewels Could Talk and previously served as the famous fashion magazine's gemstone expert for many years, stated the robbers had "cherry-picked" the most significant treasures from the museum's holdings.

The "impressively sized exquisite jewels" will probably be extracted from the jewelry pieces and marketed, she noted, with the exception of the crown from Empress Eugénie which features less valuable pieces mounted in it and was considered "too recognizable to handle," she added.

This could explain why they left it behind while fleeing, together with a second artifact, and recovered by police.

The imperial headpiece that disappeared, features exceptionally uncommon natural pearls which are incredibly valuable, authorities indicate.

Although the artifacts have been described as being priceless, the expert anticipates they will be disposed of for a minimal part of their true price.

"They're destined to someone who is willing to handle these," she stated. "Everyone will be looking for these – they'll settle for any amount available."

How much exactly might they bring as payment when disposed of? When asked about the estimated price of the loot, the detective stated the dismantled components may amount to "multiple millions."

The precious stones and taken gold might achieve approximately a significant sum (€11.52m; thirteen million dollars), says an industry expert, senior official of a prominent jeweler, a digital jewelry retailer.

The expert explained the thieves must have a trained specialist to separate the jewels, and a professional diamond cutter to change the larger recognisable stones.

Minor components that were harder to trace would be disposed of quickly and while it was hard to determine the exact price of all the stones taken, the more significant gems may amount to about £500,000 per stone, he explained.

"There are no fewer than four comparable in size, so adding all of those together with the gold, you are probably reaching the estimated figure," he said.

"The diamond and precious stone industry has buyers and there are many buyers within gray markets that won't inquire regarding sources."

Some optimism remains that the stolen goods may be found in original condition in the future – but those hopes are fading over time.

Historical examples exist – a jewelry display at the cultural institution displays an artifact previously stolen which eventually returned in an auction many years after.

Without doubt are numerous French citizens are extremely upset regarding the theft, expressing a cultural bond to the jewels.

"There isn't always like jewellery because it's an issue of power, and which doesn't always carry positive associations within French culture," a jewelry authority, director of historical collections at Parisian jewelry house the historical business, stated