Can France Recover Its Invaluable Crown Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late?

Police in France are desperate to recover irreplaceable treasures stolen from the Louvre in a daring broad daylight theft, but experts are concerned it may already be impossible to get them back.

In Paris this past Sunday, thieves entered by force the top tourist attraction worldwide, stealing eight valued items before escaping using scooters in a audacious theft that took about eight minutes.

Expert art detective Arthur Brand told the BBC he suspects the jewels may already be "already dismantled", after being taken apart into hundreds of parts.

Experts suggest the artifacts will be sold for a small part of their true price and taken out of France, additional specialists indicated.

Potential Suspects Behind the Heist

The group are experienced criminals, as the detective stated, as demonstrated by the way they managed inside and outside of the Louvre with such efficiency.

"Realistically speaking, as a normal person, one doesn't just get up overnight thinking, I'm going to become a burglar, choosing as first target the Louvre Museum," he said.

"This likely isn't their initial robbery," he continued. "They've committed things before. They're self-assured and they believed, we could succeed with this attempt, and took the chance."

Additionally demonstrating the expertise of the group is treated as important, a specialist police unit with a "strong track record in solving major theft cases" has been assigned with locating the perpetrators.

Law enforcement have said they think the heist is linked to a criminal organization.

Organised crime groups such as these generally have two main goals, Paris prosecutor the prosecutor stated. "Either they operate working for a client, or to obtain valuable gems to carry out financial crimes."

The expert believes it seems impossible to sell the items in their original form, and he said targeted robbery for a private collector is a scenario that only happens in fictional stories.

"Nobody wants to acquire a piece this recognizable," he explained. "You cannot show it to acquaintances, you can't bequeath it to your children, there's no market for it."

Potential £10m Value

The expert thinks the stolen items will be dismantled and disassembled, including the gold and precious metals liquefied and the jewels re-cut into smaller components that will be virtually impossible to trace back to the Paris heist.

Gemstone expert Carol Woolton, host of the podcast focusing on gemstones and formerly worked as Vogue magazine's jewelry specialist for many years, told the BBC the robbers had "cherry-picked" the most valuable treasures from the Louvre's collection.

The "impressively sized exquisite jewels" would likely be removed from the jewelry pieces and marketed, she noted, except for the headpiece of the historical figure which has smaller stones incorporated within it and proved to be "too recognizable to handle," she continued.

This could explain why it was dropped as they got away, in addition to another piece, and found by authorities.

The imperial headpiece that disappeared, has rare organic pearls which are incredibly valuable, experts say.

Although the artifacts are considered being priceless, the historian believes they will be disposed of for a minimal part of their true price.

"They're destined to individuals who are able to acquire such items," she stated. "Authorities worldwide will search for these – they will take what they can get."

The precise value might they bring financially when disposed of? Concerning the estimated price of the stolen goods, the expert stated the cut-up parts could be worth "multiple millions."

The jewels and taken gold might achieve up to £10 million (millions in euros; $13.4m), according to a jewelry specialist, senior official of 77 Diamonds, a digital jewelry retailer.

He stated the perpetrators will require a trained specialist to remove the gems, and an expert gem cutter to alter the bigger identifiable gems.

Smaller stones that couldn't be easily recognized could be sold immediately and while it was hard to determine the exact price of all the stones stolen, the larger ones could be worth around £500,000 per stone, he said.

"There are at least four comparable in size, thus totaling all of those up plus the gold components, you are probably reaching £10m," he said.

"The jewelry and gemstone market has buyers and there are many buyers on the fringes that don't ask about origins."

Hope persists that the artifacts could reappear undamaged in the future – yet this possibility are narrowing over time.

Similar cases have occurred – a historical showcase at the V&A Museum includes an artifact taken decades ago which eventually returned in a sale much later.

What is certain is many in France are extremely upset about the museum robbery, demonstrating an emotional attachment to the jewels.

"We don't necessarily like jewellery because it's an issue of power, and which doesn't always receive favorable interpretation in France," a heritage expert, curatorial leader at French jeweller the historical business, stated