Can France Retrieve Its Priceless Crown Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late?

French authorities are desperate to retrieve priceless gemstones robbed from the Paris museum in a audacious daytime heist, although specialists caution it might be past the point of recovery to save them.

Within the French capital over the weekend, robbers entered by force the most popular museum globally, taking eight valued items before escaping on scooters in a daring heist that was completed in eight minutes.

International art investigator an expert in the field expressed his view he believes the stolen items could be "already dismantled", having been broken up into numerous components.

It is highly likely the stolen jewels will be sold for a small part of their true price and illegally transported from the country, additional specialists indicated.

Who May Be Behind the Robbery

The thieves were professionals, according to the expert, as demonstrated by the fact they were in and out of the building so quickly.

"As you might expect, for regular people, you don't wake up one day thinking, I will become a burglar, and begin with the world-famous museum," he noted.

"This likely isn't their first heist," he continued. "They've committed things before. They are confident and they believed, we could succeed with this plan, and took the chance."

As further evidence the professionalism of the thieves is considered significant, an elite police team with a "strong track record in resolving major theft cases" has been given responsibility with tracking them down.

Authorities have said they believe the theft is connected to an organised crime network.

Sophisticated gangs like these generally have two objectives, French prosecutor the prosecutor explained. "Either they operate on behalf of a client, or to acquire valuable gems to conduct financial crimes."

The expert believes it seems extremely difficult to dispose of the artifacts as complete pieces, and he noted targeted robbery for an individual buyer is something that typically occurs in fictional stories.

"Few people wish to acquire a piece so hot," he stated. "It cannot be shown publicly, you cannot leave it to your children, there's no market for it."

Potential £10m Worth

The detective suggests the stolen items will be taken apart and separated, along with gold elements and silver components melted and the precious stones divided into less recognizable pieces that would be virtually impossible to connect to the Louvre robbery.

Jewellery historian a renowned expert, host of the podcast focusing on gemstones and formerly worked as the prestigious publication's jewellery editor for many years, stated the thieves had "carefully selected" the most valuable jewels from the museum's holdings.

The "impressively sized perfect gems" would likely be dug out from the jewelry pieces and sold, she explained, excluding the crown from the historical figure which contains smaller gems set in it and proved to be "too dangerous to keep," she added.

This might account for why it was dropped during the escape, together with one other item, and recovered by police.

The imperial headpiece that disappeared, has rare authentic pearls which command enormous prices, experts say.

Even though the pieces are considered being beyond valuation, Ms Woolton anticipates they to be sold for a small percentage of their value.

"They're destined to individuals who is willing to take possession," she said. "Everyone will be looking for the stolen goods – they'll settle for what they can get."

The precise value could they fetch financially when disposed of? Regarding the estimated price of the stolen goods, the expert said the dismantled components might value "multiple millions."

The precious stones and gold stolen might achieve as much as £10 million (over eleven million euros; thirteen million dollars), stated by an industry expert, managing director of a prominent jeweler, an online jeweller.

The expert explained the perpetrators would need an experienced professional to remove the gems, and a professional diamond cutter to modify the more noticeable pieces.

Less noticeable gems that were not easily identifiable would be disposed of right away and although difficult to determine the precise value of each piece taken, the more significant gems could be worth around a significant amount for individual pieces, he explained.

"Reports indicate no fewer than four comparable in size, therefore combining each of them together with the precious metal, you are probably coming close to £10m," he concluded.

"The gemstone and precious stone industry is active and there are many buyers on the fringes that avoid questioning too many questions."

There are hopes that the stolen goods may be found intact in the future – but those hopes are diminishing as the days pass.

Similar cases have occurred – a jewelry display at the V&A Museum displays an artifact previously stolen which eventually returned in an auction many years after.

Without doubt is many in France feel profoundly disturbed about the museum robbery, demonstrating a personal connection to the jewels.

"We don't necessarily appreciate jewelry since it represents a matter concerning power, and which doesn't always carry positive associations within French culture," a jewelry authority, curatorial leader at French jeweller the historical business, said