🔗 Share this article Can France Recover Its Priceless Historic Jewels – Or Has It Become Too Late? Police in France are making every effort to retrieve extremely valuable jewels stolen from the Paris museum in a daring daylight robbery, but experts are concerned it could be past the point of recovery to recover them. At the heart of Paris this past Sunday, thieves entered by force the world's most-visited museum, making off with eight precious artifacts before escaping on scooters in a bold robbery that lasted approximately eight minutes. Expert art detective a renowned specialist told the BBC he suspects the jewels could be "long gone", having been broken up into many fragments. Experts suggest the artifacts may be disposed of for a fraction of their worth and taken out of the country, additional specialists indicated. Potential Suspects Behind the Robbery The thieves are experienced criminals, as the detective stated, shown by the way they managed in and out of the Louvre so quickly. "Realistically speaking, for an average individual, you don't wake up overnight believing, I will become a burglar, and begin with the world-famous museum," he said. "This isn't their initial robbery," he said. "They've committed previous crimes. They are confident and they calculated, we might get away with this, and proceeded." Additionally demonstrating the expertise of the thieves is treated as important, a specialist police unit with a "high success rate in resolving major theft cases" has been assigned with tracking them down. Authorities have stated they suspect the theft is linked to a sophisticated gang. Sophisticated gangs of this type generally have two objectives, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said. "Either to act working for a sponsor, or to obtain expensive jewelry to carry out money laundering operations." The expert believes it seems extremely difficult to dispose of the artifacts intact, and he noted targeted robbery for a private collector is something that mainly exists in movies. "Few people wish to touch an artifact so identifiable," he elaborated. "You cannot show it to your friends, you can't bequeath it to your children, you cannot sell it." Potential £10m Worth The detective suggests the stolen items are likely broken down and broken up, along with gold elements and silver melted down and the jewels cut up into smaller stones that will be extremely difficult to track back to the museum theft. Gemstone expert an authority in the field, who presents the digital series If Jewels Could Talk and previously served as the prestigious publication's jewelry specialist for 20 years, stated the robbers had "cherry-picked" the most significant gemstones from the institution's artifacts. The "impressively sized flawless stones" are expected to be extracted from their settings and sold, she explained, with the exception of the tiara belonging to the historical figure which has smaller stones incorporated within it and proved to be "too hot to keep," she continued. This potentially clarifies why it was dropped during the escape, in addition to another piece, and located by officials. Empress Eugenie's tiara that disappeared, contains extremely rare authentic pearls which command enormous prices, specialists confirm. While the items are regarded as being beyond valuation, Ms Woolton anticipates they could be marketed for a small percentage of their value. "They will go to individuals who are able to handle these," she said. "Authorities worldwide will search for these items – the thieves will accept what they can get." What specific amount could they fetch as payment when disposed of? Concerning the possible worth of the stolen goods, Mr Brand stated the dismantled components could be worth "multiple millions." The gems and gold stolen might achieve up to ten million pounds (over eleven million euros; $13.4m), according to Tobias Kormind, chief executive of an established company, an internet-based gem dealer. He told the BBC the perpetrators would need a trained specialist to extract the stones, and a skilled stone worker to modify the bigger identifiable gems. Smaller stones that were not easily identifiable would be disposed of right away and although difficult to estimate the precise value of every gem removed, the larger ones may amount to approximately £500,000 per stone, he said. "We know there are no fewer than four comparable in size, so adding all of those up plus the gold components, you are probably approaching £10m," he stated. "The jewelry and precious stone industry is active and there are many buyers within gray markets that avoid questioning regarding sources." Hope persists that the artifacts might resurface intact one day – yet this possibility are fading over time. There is a precedent – a historical showcase at the V&A Museum displays an artifact stolen in 1948 before reappearing in an auction much later. Without doubt are numerous French citizens are deeply shocked regarding the theft, demonstrating an emotional attachment to the jewels. "We don't necessarily value gems since it represents a question of authority, and this isn't typically carry positive associations in France," Alexandre Leger, head of heritage at French jeweller Maison Vever, stated