In something that seems straight out of a heist film, but is unfortunately true, $102 million in precious jewels were stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris over the weekend. Taken from the museum’s Apollo Gallery in broad daylight, the eight pieces taken were part of the French crown jewels and include jewelry gifted by Napoleon to his second wife for their wedding.
How the Louvre Museum was robbed
The thieves entered the museum after parking a truck near its exterior that faces the Seine River. Dressed as workers, they raised a basket lift to the upper level of the museum before forcing open the window using an angle grinder. This allowed several people to enter and smash the display cases that held the invaluable jewelry.
The robbery, which occurred just 30 minutes after the museum’s opening, lasted approximately seven minutes. Alarms alerted guards to the issue, but they were unable to chase down the thieves, who fled on motorbikes. The only consolation was that in their escape, they did drop a ninth item— the crown of Empress Eugénie, wife to Napoleon III. Featuring 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, it was found broken.
What was stolen
Tiara from set of Queen Maria Amalia and Queen Hortense (Photo: Shonagon via Wikimedia Commons, CC0)
Items include Empress Eugénie’s tiara, covered in 212 pearls and nearly 3,000 diamonds, and her diamond-encrusted glittering bow and brooch. In addition, a 19th-century sapphire and diamond necklace and tiara set worn by two queens was also taken. One of the two earrings from the set was snatched as well. Napoleon’s wedding gifts to his second wife Marie Louise, an emerald and diamond necklace with matching earrings, were the final pieces lost in the heist.
Investigation into the stolen French Crown Jewels worth $102 million
While 60 investigators have been assigned to the case and the items have been registered on INTERPOL’s Stolen Works of Art database, the chance of recovering the precious items is slipping away. Experts believe that it’s quite possible the thieves will be caught, as quite a bit of DNA was recovered from the scene. This is in large part due to a museum guard who stopped the robbers from setting fire to the vehicle they used to enter the museum.
Still, the likelihood of finding the crown jewels is slim, as there is a good chance they will be dismantled and sold on the black market. In the meantime, the French government is left to pick up the pieces and answer questions about why the thieves were able to access the jewelry so easily. Given that last month thieves stole gold nuggets from the Paris Museum of Natural History, there are real concerns about security.
Of course, this is not the first time that the Louvre has faced a high-profile heist. Most famously, the Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911 and remained missing for nearly three years before being returned.
Sources: Louvre robbery suspects will be caught, expert predicts, but France’s crown jewels likely lost forever; See What Was Taken in the Louvre Heist; Thieves steal crown jewels in 4 minutes from Louvre Museum
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