Editor’s Note
While the jewels stolen from the Louvre remain missing, experts suggest their immense fame and heritage value make them nearly impossible to fence. This paradox—priceless yet unsellable—is the thief’s dilemma.
Following the spectacular robbery at the Louvre on Sunday, the 8 jewels adorned with diamonds and precious stones are still missing.
However, according to experts interviewed by TF1, these precious objects, of incalculable heritage value, would be very difficult to sell in their current state.
The most plausible scenario remains that of a wealthy collector who commissioned these works to display in their home. An unlikely hypothesis, judges François Curiel, now head of the famous auction house Christie’s.
Moreover, the criminals are unlikely to find more success on the black market. The precious objects, now sought worldwide, could be too easily identified and the thieves’ trail found. Alexandre Giquello, president of the Drouot auction house, said no different this Monday on LCI: according to him, the stolen jewels are simply “unsellable”.
The robbers might therefore be tempted to dismantle the pieces to separately resell the precious stones and other diamonds. A hypothesis that would yield them much less than expected.
Take the example of Princess Eugénie’s bow, which contains 2,438 diamonds.
An opinion shared by Alexandre Giquello.
Estimated at 150,000 euros in raw materials, the piece would lose most of its financial and heritage interest once dismantled, even if the hypothesis of a sale on parallel markets remains the most plausible for the interviewed experts.
As for the stones themselves, they bear no laser markings, which complicates tracking the loot. A spectacular robbery, therefore, but one that will likely be difficult to profit from. With the fear, among many experts, as with the sword of Charles X, of never recovering the objects.