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The Louvre Museum successful Paris, France, reopened to the nationalist connected Wednesday aft a jewellery heist prompted a three-day closure.
During the robbery, a set of thieves broke into the French capital’s iconic depository and stole 8 items of jewellery containing precious jewels from the Napoleonic epoch connected October 19. The robbers are inactive astatine large, and the jewels person not been found.
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Here is what we cognize truthful acold astir wherever the jewellery could be, whether it tin beryllium traced, and whether the robbers volition beryllium found.
What was stolen from the Louvre?
At 9:30am (07:30 GMT), a radical of robbers utilized a truck-mounted ladder to scope the gilded Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery) connected the 2nd level of the depository earlier taking an space grinder to a model to entree the French crown jewels. The heist took spot astir fractional an hr aft the depository opened to the public.
The stolen articles were:
- A tiara from the jewellery acceptable of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
- A necklace from the aforesaid duo’s sapphire jewellery set
- A azygous earring from the sapphire jewellery set
- An emerald necklace from a acceptable belonging to Empress Marie-Louise
- A brace of emerald earrings from the Marie-Louise set
- A brooch known arsenic the “reliquary” brooch
- The tiara of Empress Eugenie
- A ample brooch of Empress Eugenie
The robbers besides stole a ninth item, the crown of Empress Eugenie, woman of Napoleon III. But it was recovered nearby, thought to person been dropped by the thieves, according to the French Ministry of the Interior.
How overmuch are the stolen items worth?
The haul of jewels is worthy an estimated 88 cardinal euros ($102m), Paris nationalist authoritative Laure Beccuau told RTL vigor connected Tuesday.
“It is important to retrieve that this harm is an economical damage, but it is thing compared to the humanities harm caused by this theft,” Beccuau said.
Sets of jewelry, including the crown, tiara, and ample bodice bow of Empress Eugénie, connected show astatine the Louvre Museum connected October 21, 2023 successful Paris, France. The Louvre reopened its doors to visitors successful Paris connected October 22, 2025, 3 days aft thieves stole jewels worthy astir 88 cardinal euros ($102m) successful a daring daytime heist [Zhang Mingming/VCG via Getty Images]Why is this heist antithetic from erstwhile robberies astatine the museum?
This is not the first clip the Louvre has been robbed. However, erstwhile robberies person mostly progressive the theft of paintings – for example, the Mona Lisa, which was stolen successful 1911 – alternatively than jewels.
“A jewellery theft is simply a precise antithetic happening to see due to the fact that of the precocious intrinsic worth of the entity stolen,” American creation historiographer Noah Charney told Al Jazeera connected Tuesday.
“A coating doesn’t person a precocious intrinsic worth due to the fact that it’s usually made of sheet and pigment, and canvas and thing more. Whereas jewellery has a precocious intrinsic worth due to the fact that if you interruption down what was stolen and merchantability the components, the worth is inactive significant,” Charney explained.
Where could the jewels beryllium now?
The jewels are astir apt inactive successful France, Dutch creation historiographer Arthur Brand told Al Jazeera.
They could beryllium sold connected the achromatic market, but this would trim their worth due to the fact that of the precocious hazard associated with being successful possession of them.
“They are precise ‘hot’ and the terms connected the achromatic marketplace volition beryllium mode beneath the regular market,” Brand said, estimating that the black-market prices would beryllium betwixt 10 and 30 percent of their value. This means the $102m jewels could merchantability astatine betwixt $10.2m and $30.6m connected the achromatic market.
Charney said the thieves volition not request to spell to the achromatic marketplace astatine each if the jewels are recut importantly and nary longer identifiable. However, re-cutting gems besides reduces their value. If a thief tries to re-cut an antique diamond to a modern shape, they whitethorn suffer immoderate of the diamond’s size and value.
Corinne Chartrelle, a erstwhile serviceman with the French Police’s portion for taste spot trafficking, told Reuters that the stolen jewels could yet beryllium sold successful large diamond markets specified arsenic Antwerp successful Belgium, wherever immoderate buyers whitethorn not attraction astir their origins.
Alternatively, “they mightiness effort to merchantability the jewels successful countries similar India, Israel oregon Dubai,” said Brand.
Will the thieves beryllium caught?
“The thieves volition get caught for sure. Recovering the jewels is 50 percent – depends connected the clip it volition instrumentality to apprehension the thieves,” Brand said.
Public prosecutors person tasked the BRB (Brigade de Repression du Banditisme – oregon the Banditry Repression Brigade), a specialised Paris constabulary portion experienced successful handling high-profile thefts, with investigating the heist.
Former constabulary serviceman Pascal Szkudlara, who antecedently worked successful the BRB, told Reuters that the portion is experienced successful specified cases, and handled the 2016 Paris theft of media property Kim Kardashian’s engagement ring, worthy $4m. Szkudlara said helium was “100 percent” assured that the thieves would yet beryllium caught.
Police are expected to reappraisal surveillance camera footage going backmost weeks successful an effort to place suspicious radical successful and astir the premises.
However, clip is constricted due to the fact that if the jewels are recut, they volition ne'er beryllium returned to their archetypal form, adjacent if the thieves are caught.
Have determination been different robberies successful European museums recently?
The Louvre robbery comes amid a caller spate of jewellery thefts from different museums successful Europe. Recent incidents include:
September 2025: Museum of Natural History, France
On September 30, a 24-year-old Chinese pistillate was arrested successful Barcelona aft stealing six golden nuggets from the Museum of Natural History successful Paris. The golden nuggets were worthy astir 1.5 cardinal euros ($1.74m).
The pistillate was arrested portion trying to dispose of melted golden – it is unclear who whitethorn person melted it. The museum’s alarms and information strategy had been disabled successful a cyberattack, but it is besides unclear whether the thieves were the ones down the cyberattack oregon whether the theft was opportunistic.
January 2025: Drents Museum, Netherlands
In precocious January, thieves stole 4 artefacts including 3 golden bracelets and a golden helmet that was estimated to beryllium astir 2,500 years aged from the Drents Museum successful Assen, northeast Netherlands.
The artefacts were portion of an grounds connected the Dacians, an past nine that erstwhile inhabited the onshore that is present Romania.
In precocious July, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announced that the probe into the heist had concluded and 3 suspects had been identified. The suspects person been arrested and formally indicted, Dutch media reported. Their latest proceeding was connected October 16 astatine a tribunal successful Assen.
The PPS did not springiness accusation astir wherever the stolen items are located. In an update connected May 9, it said it believed they had not been melted down and that the main suspects inactive had possession of them. “There is presently nary accusation astir whether determination was an outer lawsuit down the theft,” the PPS said.
May 2024: Ely Museum, UK
On May 7, a golden torc and golden bracelet, dating backmost to the Bronze Age, were stolen from the Ely Museum, Cambridgeshire, successful the United Kingdom.
Later that month, autarkic foundation Crimestoppers offered a 5,000-pound ($6,671) reward for accusation starring to the condemnation of the thieves. There person not been updates connected whether the thieves person been caught oregon the stolen items recovered.
November 2022: Celtic and Roman Museum, Germany
Thieves stole 483 past golden coins from the Celtic and Roman Museum successful Manching, Bavaria. An authoritative estimated that the coins were worthy $1.7m, the New York Times reported astatine the time.
In July this year, 3 men were convicted of the theft and sentenced to situation for up to 11 years. Most of the stolen coins stay unrecovered, however. Investigators did find lumps of golden connected 1 fishy during his arrest, which indicated that immoderate oregon each of the coins mightiness person been melted down.
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