Will France Retrieve Its Invaluable Royal Gems – Or Has It Become Too Late?

Law enforcement in France are making every effort to retrieve irreplaceable gemstones taken from the Louvre in a brazen daylight robbery, although specialists have warned it could be past the point of recovery to save them.

In Paris on Sunday, thieves gained access to the world's most-visited museum, stealing eight precious artifacts then fleeing using scooters in a audacious theft that took about eight minutes.

Expert art detective a renowned specialist told the BBC he believes the stolen items could be "already dismantled", after being taken apart into numerous components.

There is a strong chance the stolen jewels could be sold off for a fraction of their worth and smuggled out of France, several authorities noted.

Potential Suspects Behind the Heist

The thieves are experienced criminals, as the detective stated, as demonstrated by the fact they were through the museum of the museum with such efficiency.

"As you might expect, for regular people, one doesn't just get up one day thinking, I'm going to become a burglar, let's start with the world-famous museum," he explained.

"This likely isn't the first time they've done this," he continued. "They have done previous crimes. They are confident and they calculated, we might get away 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 cracking major theft cases" has been assigned with tracking them down.

Authorities have said they believe the robbery is linked to a sophisticated gang.

Organised crime groups of this type typically have two main goals, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau explained. "Either to act for the benefit of a sponsor, or to obtain expensive jewelry to perform financial crimes."

The expert believes it is extremely difficult to market the jewels as complete pieces, and he noted commissioned theft for a specific client represents a situation that only happens in movies.

"No one desires to acquire an artifact so identifiable," he stated. "You can't display it publicly, it cannot be passed to your children, you cannot sell it."

Possible £10m Value

The expert thinks the artifacts will be taken apart and disassembled, along with gold elements and silver components melted and the jewels re-cut into smaller components that will be virtually impossible to track back to the Louvre robbery.

Historical jewelry specialist a renowned expert, host of the digital series If Jewels Could Talk and was the famous fashion magazine's gemstone expert for many years, told the BBC the thieves had "cherry-picked" the most important jewels from the Louvre's collection.

The "beautiful large flawless stones" are expected to be removed of their mountings and sold, she explained, with the exception of the headpiece of Empress Eugénie which contains smaller gems mounted in it and was "too hot to keep," she added.

This potentially clarifies why they left it behind while fleeing, in addition to another piece, and located by officials.

Empress Eugenie's tiara that disappeared, features exceptionally uncommon authentic pearls which command enormous prices, experts say.

While the items have been described as being priceless, the historian believes they to be sold for a fraction of their worth.

"They're destined to individuals who is willing to handle these," she explained. "Many people will seek for the stolen goods – the thieves will accept any amount available."

How much exactly could they fetch in money upon being marketed? Regarding the possible worth of the loot, the detective stated the cut-up parts may amount to "multiple millions."

The jewels and taken gold could fetch as much as a significant sum (millions in euros; thirteen million dollars), stated by an industry expert, senior official of an established company, an internet-based gem dealer.

He stated the perpetrators must have a trained specialist to separate the jewels, and a professional diamond cutter to alter the bigger identifiable gems.

Minor components that were not easily identifiable could be sold immediately and although difficult to estimate the specific worth of each piece removed, the more significant gems might value about a significant amount per stone, he noted.

"Reports indicate at least four that large, therefore combining all those pieces together with the gold components, it's likely coming close to the estimated figure," he said.

"The jewelry and gemstone market is liquid and numerous purchasers exist in less regulated areas that won't inquire too many questions."

There are hopes that the stolen goods might resurface intact eventually – but those hopes are fading over time.

There is a precedent – the Cartier exhibition at the V&A Museum features a piece of jewelry stolen in 1948 which eventually returned in a sale many years after.

Without doubt are numerous French citizens are deeply shocked regarding the theft, having felt a personal connection toward the treasures.

"French people don't always like jewellery as it symbolizes a matter concerning privilege, and which doesn't always have a good connotation among French people," a heritage expert, curatorial leader at Parisian jewelry house the historical business, said