Thieves have stolen “priceless” jewelry from the Louvre in Paris, the world’s most-visited museum, in an audacious seven-minute raid on Sunday, the French interior minister has said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told radio station France Inter: “A major robbery took place this morning in the Apollo Room. Individuals entered the Louvre Museum from outside, using a external freight elevator that was positioned on a truck.”
The Apollo Room houses the French Crown Jewels, as well as treasures including Louis XIV’s hardstone vessel collection.
The crown was later found on the pavement, there are a few earrings and pendants still to be found. For the values of the gems: gems from that time often have quite a crude cut by today’s standards,and they are not individually of a high value. As with tea sets, it’s the full original set that has priceless value. The more you break it into bits, then individual gens, the more the value goes down.
Clearly not a pink panther level job, though kudos for the ballsy heist.