Where are the Louvre jewels now and can France get them back?

French police are desperate to recover precious jewels stolen from the Louvre in broad daylight, but experts warn it is too late to save them.

In Paris on Sunday, thieves broke into the world’s most visited museum and stole eight valuables before fleeing on a scooter in a daring heist that lasted about eight minutes.

Dutch art detective Arthur Brandt told the BBC he feared the jewels were already “long gone”, broken into hundreds of pieces.

Other experts said the pieces were sold for a fraction of their value and were most likely smuggled out of France.

The group was professional, Mr. Brand believes, as evidenced by the fact that they were in and out of the Louvre so quickly.

“You know, as a normal person, you don’t wake up in the morning thinking, I’m going to be a thief, let’s start with the Louvre,” he said.

“This wouldn’t be their first theft,” he said. “They’ve done things before, other burglaries. They had confidence and thought we could get away with it, and went for it.”

In another sign that the gang’s professionalism is being taken seriously, a specialist police unit with a “high success rate in cracking high-profile robberies” has been tasked with tracking them down.

Authorities have said they suspect the theft is linked to an organized crime network. Mr Brand says this means offenders are likely to have a criminal record and will be known to the police.

Police said Monday that a vest and equipment found at the scene have been submitted for analysis. Mr. Brand suggests that DNA evidence would be a possible way to catch thieves.

Organized crime groups like this generally have two goals, said Paris attorney Laure Bacua. “Either to act for the sponsor’s benefit or to obtain precious stones to carry out money laundering operations.”

Mr. Brand thinks it’s impossible to sell the item intact, and says that stealing it for a private collector is something that only happens in Hollywood movies.

“No one wants to touch such a hot area,” he explained. “You can’t show it to your friends, you can’t leave it to your kids, you can’t sell it.”

Mr. Brand believes that the objects will be smashed and broken, the gold and silver will be melted down and the gems will be cut into small stones that will make tracking the Louvre robbery virtually impossible.

Jewelery historian Carol Woolton, who presents the podcast If Jewels Could Talk and was the jewelery editor of Vogue magazine for 20 years, told the BBC that the most important gem in the Louvre’s collection was “cherry-picked”.

“Beautiful large flawless stones” will likely be dug out of their mountings and sold, she said, except for Empress Eugenie’s crown which has smaller stones set in and is “too hot to handle”, she added.

This may explain why it was left behind during the escape, along with one other item, and found by authorities.

Empress Eugenie’s tiara, which was stolen, contains rare natural pearls that are of great value, experts say.

While the items are said to be priceless, Ms Woolton expects them to sell for a fraction of their value.

“They’ll go to someone who’s willing to handle it,” she said. “Everybody’s going to be looking for it — they’re going to take what they can get.”

How much money can they get if they sell? Asked about the potential value of the haul, Mr Brand said the cut-up parts could be worth “several millions”.

Stolen diamonds and gold can fetch £10 million (€11.52m; $13.4m), says Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77Diamonds, an online jeweller.

He told the BBC that the gang needed a skilled specialist to remove the gems and a professional diamond cutter to replace the larger recognizable stones.

Smaller stones that are not easily identified can be sold immediately and while it is difficult to estimate the exact value of all the stolen stones, the larger ones could be worth around £500,000 each, he said.

“There are at least four of that size, so adding all that and the gold, you’re probably close to £10m,” he said.

“The diamond and gemstone market is fluid and there are a lot of buyers on the coast who don’t ask too many questions.”

There are hopes that the object may one day be seen intact – but those hopes are fading as the days pass.

An example is – a piece of jewelery stolen in 1948 from the Cartier exhibition at the V&A museum reappears at auction decades later.

It is certain that many people in France were deeply shocked by the Louvre theft, feeling an emotional attachment to the jewels.

“We don’t like jewelry because it’s a question of power, and it doesn’t necessarily mean well in France,” said Alexandre Léger, head of heritage at French jeweler Maison Vaver.

“But inevitably, what was stolen belongs to you as much as to me. It belongs to France, so everyone has a little piece of this stuff, just like everyone has a little piece of the Mona Lisa.

“It’s like someone stole the Mona Lisa from us… someone stole France.”

Additional reporting by Izumi Yoneyama.