Law enforcement in France are urgently trying to recover irreplaceable treasures robbed from the Paris museum in a audacious daylight robbery, yet authorities caution it might be too late to recover them.
Within the French capital this past Sunday, thieves entered by force the world's most-visited museum, stealing eight precious artifacts then fleeing using scooters in a bold robbery that was completed in eight minutes.
Dutch art detective a renowned specialist stated publicly he suspects the stolen items may already be "long gone", after being taken apart into hundreds of parts.
Experts suggest the pieces may be disposed of for a fraction of their worth and illegally transported from the country, other experts noted.
The thieves acted professionally, Mr Brand believes, evidenced by the way they managed in and out of the building so quickly.
"Realistically speaking, for an average individual, you don't wake up one day planning, I'm going to become a burglar, choosing as first target the Louvre," he explained.
"This won't be the first time they've done this," he added. "They have done things before. They're self-assured and they thought, we could succeed with this attempt, and took the chance."
Additionally demonstrating the professionalism of the thieves is treated as important, an elite police team with a "proven effectiveness in cracking major theft cases" has been given responsibility with locating the perpetrators.
Authorities have said they think the robbery is connected to an organised crime network.
Sophisticated gangs like these generally have two primary purposes, French prosecutor a senior official said. "Either they operate for the benefit of a sponsor, or to obtain precious stones to carry out financial crimes."
Mr Brand thinks it seems highly unlikely to market the jewels in their original form, and he said commissioned theft for an individual buyer represents a situation that mainly exists in movies.
"Nobody wants to touch an artifact so hot," he elaborated. "You cannot show it publicly, you can't bequeath it to family, there's no market for it."
The expert thinks the objects are likely broken down and disassembled, along with gold elements and silver components melted and the precious stones cut up into smaller components that could be virtually impossible to trace back to the Louvre robbery.
Jewellery historian an authority in the field, who presents the digital series If Jewels Could Talk and was the prestigious publication's jewelry specialist for two decades, explained the perpetrators had "cherry-picked" the most valuable treasures from the institution's artifacts.
The "magnificent exquisite jewels" are expected to be extracted from the jewelry pieces and sold, she explained, except for the headpiece of the historical figure which contains smaller gems set in it and proved to be "too dangerous to handle," she explained.
This potentially clarifies why it was dropped as they got away, in addition to one other item, and recovered by police.
The royal crown which was stolen, has rare authentic pearls which are incredibly valuable, specialists confirm.
Even though the pieces have been described as being beyond valuation, the expert believes they could be marketed for a small percentage of their value.
"They will go to someone who are prepared to take possession," she stated. "Authorities worldwide will search for these – the thieves will accept any amount available."
What specific amount would they generate financially upon being marketed? Concerning the possible worth of the stolen goods, Mr Brand said the separated elements could be worth "multiple millions."
The gems and taken gold could fetch approximately ten million pounds (millions in euros; $13.4m), according to an industry expert, chief executive of a prominent jeweler, a digital jewelry retailer.
He stated the thieves must have a trained specialist to extract the stones, and an expert gem cutter to alter the bigger identifiable gems.
Minor components that were harder to trace might be marketed immediately and despite challenges to determine the exact price of each piece stolen, the bigger stones may amount to around half a million pounds each, he said.
"We know there are no fewer than four that large, so adding each of them together with the gold components, you are probably approaching the estimated figure," he said.
"The gemstone and luxury goods trade is active and there are many buyers on the fringes that avoid questioning too many questions."
Some optimism remains that the artifacts could reappear undamaged one day – although such expectations are narrowing as the days pass.
Similar cases have occurred – a jewelry display at the cultural institution features an artifact previously stolen which eventually returned in a sale several decades later.
Definitely is many in France are deeply shocked by the Louvre heist, having felt a personal connection to the jewels.
"We don't necessarily appreciate jewelry as it symbolizes an issue of power, and this isn't typically have a good connotation in France," Alexandre Leger, curatorial leader at established French company Maison Vever, stated
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