Is France Able to Retrieve Its Precious Historic Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late?
French authorities are urgently trying to locate extremely valuable jewels stolen from the Paris museum in a brazen daytime heist, although specialists have warned it might be too late to get them back.
Within the French capital on Sunday, robbers entered by force the most popular museum globally, making off with eight cherished pieces then fleeing via motor scooters in a audacious theft that took about under ten minutes.
Dutch art detective a renowned specialist expressed his view he suspects the artifacts may already be "already dismantled", having been broken up into numerous components.
There is a strong chance the artifacts could be sold off for a fraction of their worth and taken out of France, several authorities indicated.
Who May Be Behind the Heist
The thieves acted professionally, according to the expert, as demonstrated by the way they managed through the museum of the museum with such efficiency.
"As you might expect, as a normal person, you don't wake up one day believing, I should become a thief, and begin with the world-famous museum," he noted.
"This isn't their initial robbery," he said. "They have done previous crimes. They're self-assured and they believed, we might get away with this attempt, and went for it."
Additionally demonstrating the expertise of the gang is considered significant, an elite police team with a "strong track record in cracking major theft cases" has been tasked with finding them.
Police officials have indicated they think the theft is linked to an organised crime network.
Organised crime groups like these generally have two objectives, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated. "Either they operate working for a financier, or to obtain valuable gems to perform illegal financial activities."
Mr Brand thinks it is highly unlikely to sell the items in their original form, and he said commissioned theft for a private collector is a scenario that typically occurs in movies.
"Nobody wants to acquire a piece so identifiable," he explained. "You can't display it to your friends, you cannot leave it to family, it cannot be sold."
Potential £10m Worth
The detective suggests the artifacts will be taken apart and separated, with the gold and precious metals liquefied and the precious stones re-cut into smaller stones that would be nearly impossible to connect to the Louvre robbery.
Gemstone expert an authority in the field, creator of the audio program If Jewels Could Talk and was the prestigious publication's jewellery editor for two decades, explained the perpetrators had "carefully selected" the most significant gemstones from the institution's artifacts.
The "impressively sized exquisite jewels" are expected to be removed of their mountings and sold, she noted, except for the tiara belonging to Empress Eugénie which features less valuable pieces incorporated within it and was "too dangerous to possess," she continued.
This could explain the reason it was abandoned while fleeing, along with a second artifact, and located by officials.
The royal crown which was stolen, contains extremely rare authentic pearls which have a very large value, specialists confirm.
While the items are regarded as having immeasurable worth, the expert expects them to be sold for a small percentage of their value.
"They're destined to buyers who are able to handle these," she explained. "Many people will seek for the stolen goods – they will take any amount available."
What specific amount could they fetch as payment if sold on? Regarding the estimated price of the stolen goods, the expert indicated the cut-up parts could be worth "several million."
The precious stones and gold stolen may bring approximately a significant sum (over eleven million euros; $13.4m), says Tobias Kormind, managing director of an established company, an internet-based gem dealer.
He told the BBC the gang will require a trained specialist to separate the jewels, and a professional diamond cutter to modify the bigger identifiable gems.
Less noticeable gems that were harder to trace might be marketed right away and despite challenges to determine the exact price of each piece taken, the bigger stones may amount to approximately £500,000 for individual pieces, he explained.
"Reports indicate no fewer than four of that size, so adding all those pieces along with the gold components, you are probably coming close to £10m," he stated.
"The jewelry and precious stone industry is active and plenty of customers operate on the fringes that don't ask about origins."
There are hopes that the stolen goods could reappear in original condition one day – yet this possibility are fading over time.
There is a precedent – a jewelry display at the V&A Museum includes an artifact previously stolen that later resurfaced in a public event many years after.
What is certain is many in France are extremely upset about the museum robbery, having felt an emotional attachment to the jewels.
"French people don't always like jewellery as it symbolizes a question of authority, and that doesn't necessarily receive favorable interpretation among French people," a jewelry authority, head of heritage at Parisian jewelry house Maison Vever, explained
