🔗 Share this article

French authorities are making every effort to locate extremely valuable jewels taken from the Paris museum in a audacious daylight robbery, but experts have warned it may already be impossible to get them back.

At the heart of Paris on Sunday, robbers entered by force the top tourist attraction worldwide, taking eight precious artifacts then fleeing via motor scooters in a audacious theft that lasted approximately just minutes.

Expert art detective a renowned specialist stated publicly he feared the stolen items could be "dispersed", after being taken apart into numerous components.

It is highly likely the pieces will be sold for a fraction of their worth and taken out of French territory, other experts have said.

Potential Suspects Behind the Heist

The perpetrators acted professionally, as the detective stated, as demonstrated by the speed with which they got inside and outside of the Louvre with such efficiency.

"As you might expect, as a normal person, you don't wake up one day thinking, I should become a criminal, let's start with the Louvre," he noted.

"This isn't the first time they've done this," he continued. "They have done things before. They feel certain and they believed, we could succeed with this, and went for it."

As further evidence the professionalism of the group is treated as important, a specialist police unit with a "proven effectiveness in resolving significant crimes" has been given responsibility with locating the perpetrators.

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

Criminal organizations of this type typically have two main goals, legal official the prosecutor explained. "Either they operate for the benefit of a client, or to secure valuable gems to conduct financial crimes."

Mr Brand thinks it is extremely difficult to sell the items as complete pieces, and he noted commissioned theft for an individual buyer represents a situation that typically occurs in fictional stories.

"Nobody wants to handle an artifact so identifiable," he explained. "It cannot be shown publicly, you cannot leave it to heirs, it cannot be sold."

Possible £10m Price Tag

The expert thinks the objects will be taken apart and broken up, including the gold and silver components melted and the precious stones re-cut into less recognizable pieces that could be virtually impossible to track back to the Paris heist.

Gemstone expert an authority in the field, host of the podcast If Jewels Could Talk and previously served as the prestigious publication's jewelry specialist for two decades, told the BBC the thieves had "cherry-picked" the most important treasures from the Louvre's collection.

The "magnificent exquisite jewels" will probably be dug out from their settings and sold, she said, with the exception of the tiara belonging to the historical figure which has smaller stones incorporated within it and was considered "too hot to keep," she continued.

This might account for why they left it behind as they got away, along with another piece, and found by authorities.

Empress Eugenie's tiara which was stolen, has rare organic pearls which command enormous prices, experts say.

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

"They will go to buyers who are prepared to handle these," she said. "Everyone will be looking for these items – they will take any amount available."

The precise value might they bring as payment when disposed of? When asked about the possible worth of the loot, the expert indicated the cut-up parts could be worth "multiple millions."

The gems and removed precious metal could fetch as much as a significant sum (€11.52m; thirteen million dollars), stated by an industry expert, senior official of a prominent jeweler, an internet-based gem dealer.

The expert explained the gang will require a skilled expert to separate the jewels, and a professional diamond cutter to alter the larger recognisable stones.

Minor components that were not easily identifiable could be sold immediately and despite challenges to estimate the exact price of all the stones stolen, the larger ones might value around a significant amount each, he explained.

"There are a minimum of four of that size, therefore combining all those pieces together with the gold, one could estimate coming close to ten million," he stated.

"The jewelry and gemstone market is liquid and plenty of customers operate in less regulated areas that don't ask regarding sources."

Hope persists that the items could reappear in original condition eventually – yet this possibility are diminishing with each passing day.

Similar cases have occurred – a jewelry display at the London museum displays an artifact stolen in 1948 that later resurfaced in a public event several decades later.

Definitely is many in France feel profoundly disturbed by the Louvre heist, expressing an emotional attachment to the jewels.

"We don't necessarily like jewellery because it's a question of authority, and this isn't typically receive favorable interpretation in France," a jewelry authority, director of historical collections at established French company the prestigious firm, stated