Overview
- French authorities say a four-person team used a cherry picker, cut a window with an angle grinder, stole eight jeweled pieces, and escaped on scooters on 19 October.
- A Louvre security employee said aging equipment and staffing cuts constrained protection, echoing a January director’s memo warning of severe building wear.
- Experts quoted by Reuters say intact recovery is unlikely because diamonds can be recut and gold melted for rapid resale on black markets.
- Among the missing items is Empress Eugénie’s diamond garter, reported to hold more than 2,600 stones and to have cost the museum nearly €7 million.
- Public commentary includes Telegram founder Pavel Durov offering to buy and return the jewels to Louvre Abu Dhabi, while ex-thief Miles Connor outlined a possible reward-for-return tactic.