Vanished treasures: Why stolen Louvre jewels worth $102 million may never be seen again

According to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, the stolen items include two crowns, a sapphire necklace, emerald earrings, two diamond-studded brooches, and a single earring.

The glittering sapphires, emeralds and diamonds once worn by France’s royals may now be lost forever after a lightning-fast daylight robbery at the Louvre Museum left the country shaken and its cultural guardians humiliated.

In what police have called one of the most audacious art crimes in decades, four thieves made off with eight priceless pieces from the museum’s Apollo Gallery in a heist lasting barely four minutes. The jewels, worth an estimated $102 million (88 million euros), were part of France’s historic crown collection dating back to the 16th century.

According to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, the stolen items include two crowns, a sapphire necklace, emerald earrings, two diamond-studded brooches, and a single earring—each representing the height of 19th-century “haute joaillerie.” Surveillance footage shows two men in bright yellow jackets breaking in around 9:34 a.m. using a cherry picker and fleeing on motorbikes minutes later. About 100 investigators are now working to trace the suspects and the missing gems.

‘They may vanish from history’

Experts fear the jewels—many once worn by Empress Eugénie and Queen Marie-Amélie—will never be recovered. “It’s extremely unlikely these jewels will ever be retrieved and seen again,” Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, told the Associated Press. “If these gems are broken up and sold off, they will, in effect, vanish from history and be lost to the world forever.”

One damaged crown, adorned with 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, was found abandoned near the museum after the heist. But the rest, including a sapphire-and-diamond headpiece gifted by Emperor Napoleon III to Empress Eugénie and an emerald necklace once presented by Napoleon Bonaparte to Marie-Louise of Austria, have disappeared without a trace.

Security failures and national embarrassment

The Louvre reopened on Wednesday, though the Apollo Gallery remained sealed off. The theft has deepened scrutiny of security at the world’s most-visited museum, already struggling with overcrowding and high-profile disruptions. Last year, activists hurled soup at the Mona Lisa, and staff strikes over mass tourism brought operations to a standstill.

In Parliament, conservative lawmaker Maxime Michelet called the heist a “national humiliation.” He said, “Empress Eugénie’s crown—stolen, then dropped and found broken in the gutter—has become the symbol of the decline of a nation that used to be so admired.”

President Emmanuel Macron, who has already announced a major renovation to give the Mona Lisa its own room, now faces growing calls for tighter protection of France’s cultural treasures.

A race against time

Art-crime investigators say the thieves likely selected the jewels for quick profit rather than prestige. “These criminals are just looking to steal whatever they can,” said Christopher A. Marinello of Art Recovery International. “They’ll take out the settings, remove the diamonds and sapphires, and sell them to a shady dealer overseas. No one will ever know what they did.”

Dutch art detective Arthur Brand agreed, saying the pieces are now “too famous to sell.” “Nobody will touch these objects. They’re too hot,” Brand said. “If you get caught, you’ll end up in prison. You can’t sell them, and you can’t even pass them on to your children.”

For France, the loss goes beyond monetary value. These jewels were living fragments of royal history—now likely scattered, dismantled, and melted into anonymity. As one French commentator put it this week, “The Louvre has lost not just jewels, but part of its soul.”

*With AP inputs