Is France Able to Recover Its Precious Royal Gems – Or Has It Become Too Late?

French authorities are urgently trying to locate priceless treasures taken from the Louvre in a daring daylight robbery, but experts are concerned it may already be past the point of recovery to get them back.

At the heart of Paris this past Sunday, robbers broke into the top tourist attraction worldwide, taking eight valued items before escaping using scooters in a daring heist that was completed in just minutes.

Expert art detective an expert in the field told the BBC he feared the artifacts may already be "dispersed", once separated into many fragments.

There is a strong chance the stolen jewels could be sold off for a small part of their true price and taken out of French territory, several authorities indicated.

Possible Culprits Behind the Robbery

The thieves were professionals, as the detective stated, as demonstrated by the way they managed through the museum of the Louvre in record time.

"You know, for regular people, you don't wake up overnight believing, I should become a burglar, choosing as first target the world-famous museum," he explained.

"This isn't their initial robbery," he added. "They have done other burglaries. They are confident and they believed, we could succeed with this attempt, and proceeded."

Additionally demonstrating the expertise of the group is treated as important, a specialist police unit with a "high success rate in cracking major theft cases" has been given responsibility with tracking them down.

Law enforcement have stated they believe the robbery relates to a criminal organization.

Criminal organizations like these generally have two objectives, French prosecutor the prosecutor said. "Either to act working for a sponsor, or to secure precious stones to carry out illegal financial activities."

Mr Brand thinks it seems extremely difficult to market the jewels intact, and he noted stealing-to-order for a specific client is something that mainly exists in fictional stories.

"Nobody wants to touch an item so identifiable," he explained. "It cannot be shown to your friends, it cannot be passed to your children, it cannot be sold."

Possible £10m Price Tag

The expert thinks the stolen items are likely broken down and disassembled, with the gold and silver components melted and the precious stones cut up into less recognizable pieces that will be virtually impossible to track back to the museum theft.

Historical jewelry specialist an authority in the field, host of the podcast about historical jewelry and formerly worked as Vogue magazine's jewellery editor for many years, told the BBC the robbers had "specifically chosen" the most significant treasures from the institution's artifacts.

The "impressively sized exquisite jewels" are expected to be extracted of their mountings and sold, she explained, except for the headpiece of Empress Eugénie which contains smaller gems incorporated within it and proved to be "too hot to keep," she continued.

This might account for why it was dropped during the escape, along with another piece, and recovered by police.

The royal crown that disappeared, has rare authentic pearls which have a very large value, specialists confirm.

Even though the pieces are regarded as having immeasurable worth, the historian expects them to be sold for a minimal part of their true price.

"They'll likely end up to individuals who are able to handle these," she stated. "Authorities worldwide will search for these – they'll settle for what they can get."

The precise value could they fetch as payment if sold on? When asked about the estimated price of the stolen goods, Mr Brand said the dismantled components could be worth "several million."

The gems and removed precious metal may bring as much as £10 million (over eleven million euros; thirteen million dollars), stated by a jewelry specialist, chief executive of 77 Diamonds, a digital jewelry retailer.

He stated the thieves must have a trained specialist to separate the jewels, and an expert gem cutter to modify the more noticeable pieces.

Minor components that were harder to trace might be marketed right away and although difficult to tell the precise value of each piece taken, the more significant gems may amount to approximately a significant amount per stone, he noted.

"Reports indicate no fewer than four comparable in size, so adding each of them together with the gold, you are probably coming close to £10m," he stated.

"The jewelry and luxury goods trade is liquid and there are many buyers on the fringes that don't ask too many questions."

There are hopes that the items could reappear in original condition one day – although such expectations are diminishing over time.

Historical examples exist – a jewelry display at the London museum includes a piece of jewelry taken decades ago which eventually returned in an auction many years after.

Definitely includes the French public are extremely upset by the Louvre heist, demonstrating a personal connection to the jewels.

"We don't necessarily value gems because it's a question of privilege, and that doesn't necessarily have a good connotation within French culture," a heritage expert, director of historical collections at French jeweller Maison Vever, explained