Is France Able to Recover Its Priceless Historic Jewels – Or Is It Too Late?

French authorities are urgently trying to locate irreplaceable jewels stolen from the Paris museum in a daring broad daylight theft, yet authorities caution it might be too late to save them.

At the heart of Paris over the weekend, burglars broke into the world's most-visited museum, stealing eight precious artifacts then fleeing using scooters in a daring heist that took about eight minutes.

Expert art detective Arthur Brand expressed his view he suspects the stolen items may already be "long gone", having been broken up into numerous components.

There is a strong chance the pieces will be sold for a fraction of their worth and illegally transported from France, additional specialists indicated.

Who May Be Behind the Heist

The group acted professionally, according to the expert, shown by the way they managed inside and outside of the building in record time.

"As you might expect, for regular people, one doesn't just get up overnight planning, I'm going to become a thief, choosing as first target the Louvre," he explained.

"This won't be their first heist," he added. "They have done previous crimes. They are confident and they thought, it might work out with this attempt, and went for it."

Additionally demonstrating the professionalism of the group is considered significant, a specialist police unit with a "high success rate in resolving major theft cases" has been assigned with finding them.

Law enforcement have indicated they believe the theft is connected to an organised crime network.

Sophisticated gangs of this type typically have two objectives, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau explained. "Either to act working for a financier, or to acquire precious stones to perform financial crimes."

The detective suggests it would be impossible to sell the items as complete pieces, and he noted commissioned theft for an individual buyer represents a situation that mainly exists in Hollywood films.

"No one desires to acquire a piece this recognizable," he explained. "It cannot be shown publicly, it cannot be passed to family, there's no market for it."

Estimated £10m Worth

The detective suggests the objects are likely broken down and broken up, with the gold and silver melted down and the jewels cut up into less recognizable pieces that could be virtually impossible to track back to the Louvre robbery.

Gemstone expert Carol Woolton, creator of the digital series focusing on gemstones and was the prestigious publication's gemstone expert for 20 years, stated the robbers had "specifically chosen" the most important jewels from the institution's artifacts.

The "beautiful large exquisite jewels" are expected to be extracted of their mountings and sold, she said, except for the crown from the historical figure which features less valuable pieces incorporated within it and was considered "too dangerous to handle," she continued.

This could explain why it was dropped during the escape, together with a second artifact, and located by officials.

The royal crown that was taken, features exceptionally uncommon natural pearls which have a very large value, experts say.

While the items have been described as having immeasurable worth, the historian anticipates they to be sold for a fraction of their worth.

"They'll likely end up to someone who are prepared to acquire such items," she said. "Many people will seek for the stolen goods – the thieves will accept any amount available."

What specific amount might they bring in money when disposed of? When asked about the estimated price of the stolen goods, the expert said the dismantled components may amount to "multiple millions."

The gems and gold stolen might achieve approximately ten million pounds (€11.52m; $13.4m), says a jewelry specialist, senior official of an established company, an online jeweller.

The expert explained the thieves will require an experienced professional to remove the gems, and an expert gem cutter to modify the bigger identifiable gems.

Minor components that were harder to trace could be sold immediately and while it was hard to tell the specific worth of every gem removed, the larger ones could be worth around a significant amount per stone, he explained.

"Reports indicate at least four that large, therefore combining each of them along with the precious metal, you are probably reaching £10m," he concluded.

"The gemstone and gemstone market is liquid and numerous purchasers exist on the fringes that don't ask regarding sources."

Hope persists that the artifacts might resurface undamaged one day – but those hopes are diminishing over time.

Historical examples exist – a jewelry display at the London museum features an item of jewellery stolen in 1948 that later resurfaced in an auction much later.

What is certain are numerous French citizens feel profoundly disturbed regarding the theft, demonstrating an emotional attachment to the jewels.

"We don't necessarily value gems because it's a question of power, and this isn't typically carry positive associations among French people," a jewelry authority, head of heritage at French jeweller the historical business, said