FRANCE, Paris, Robbery at the Louvre, Oct 19, 2025

[PrairieWind]

Des Cars is the director of the museum as I understand. Is she in charge of security of is there director of security? It makes sense that the Louvre director is a museum/art person. Security is not their specialty and would thus have someone in charge of that. That is the person who we need to hear from, unless Des Cars over-rode security decisions. I see there is now discussion of "security cuts. There were guards but they were apparently driven away by the thieves with saws. That is just inexplicable.

 

[Charlot123]

.

My guess is
it was commissioned by a weird/mad collector
fixated on these particular items
(for whatever reason).

The criminals waited for the specific moment in time,
when security was at its lowest and some repairs were being conducted adding to chaos.

It indicates IMO!!!
there is a possible "associate" within the Museum itself or the builders.

But it gives me hope,
the Jewels will be recovered
(as the brazen perps seem to be sloppy)
and put into their Museum place
to be admired again

I will visit Louvre one day
to look specifically at them

JMO

Collectors could be fixated and collectors can keep the items in their storage and never show to everyone. However, however…

The collectors who could have ordered the heist could well have the money to buy such items. Eugenia’s tiara with pearls was in the possession of the House of Thurn and Taxis and in 1998 it was sold back to France at an auction.

Exile, a royal wedding present and German aristocrats: The fascinating history of Empress Eugenie's tiara after it was stolen from the Louvre

Commissioned by Napoléon III for his wife Eugenie, this tiara was worn by punk Princess Gloria TNT on her wedding day

www.tatler.com

So, there are still old auction booklets, brochures, online info, prices. Haven’t we looked at Christie’s or Sotheby’s auctions? The tiara is beautiful, but each year similar splendid jewels are sold by the auction houses.

I have a strange feeling that the collector who could pay for the heist could have afforded buying a similar item at the auction. Why risk? They are probably people of reputation.

Of course, there are not-too-honest antiques dealers. But for a dealer to organize a robbery without a buyer makes no sense.

At the same time, the buyer can afford purchasing similar item at an auction house as something constantly pops up… More unique items, the Regence and the Sancy diamonds, were left. OK, maybe the Regent diamond is cursed (although I would be surprised if the jewelry robbers were superstitious). But the Sancy one? They are one-of-a-kind.

My mind is going in circles here. What am I missing? Something doesn’t make sense. A stupid moneyed up daughter of a magnate might order it, but such ladies would be monitored by the parents, I presume.

 

[Dotta]

"Museum heists have changed. ​

Why the Louvre robbery is a worrying escalation.​

Beyond its seemingly cinematic plot,
the robbery was a clear example
of how thieves have started targeting cultural institutions
not necessarily for their prized paintings,
but for artifacts that can be dismantled, stripped or melted down for their expensive parts.

'What we’ve definitely seen in the last five to seven years
is some more shift towards raw materials theft',
explained the secretary of the International Counsel of Museum Security,
part of the International Counsel of Museums,
whose experts keep information flowing across the European museum sector on security threats and best practices to safeguard institutions.

The move, he says,
has been away from stealing art for its cultural value.

Works by Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian or Willem de Kooning can resurface years, or decades, later.

But experts say
jewelry, coins or medals, meanwhile,
are at risk of being lost forever
— and quickly."

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/20/style/france-louvre-heist-worrying-escalation-intl-hnk

 

[littlefish]

Personally pleased the museum guards weren’t armed - if they were known to be, the thieves may have brought more than an angle grinder and we may be reading about loss of life as well as gem.

I’m also team NotMeltedDown. Robbing the louvre?? Asking for the world’s attention. I’ve seen 75,000 memes about those gems today. Stealing them so flagrantly surely adds them to the pop culture lexicon and adds some zeros to the price tag. What would some eccentric billionaires pay to own an item from the famous 2025 louvre heist?? Wishful thinking, anyway.

 

[Lucy6226]

My hunch is they either were stolen for an underground collector or they were stolen to hold as ransom. I hold either motive as equally possible.

I do not think the items will be melted down.

jmopinion

Agree. It wasn't a smash and grab scenario. This was very specific, they knew exactly which items they were taking. Moo

 

[Inthedetails]

The only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the Louvre where they broke in was pointing away from the first-floor balcony that led to Gallery of Apollo housing the jewels, she said.

Louvre failed to spot jewel thieves early enough, says museum boss

Laurence des Cars said there was only one camera pointing on the gallery which was robbed.

www.bbc.com

 

[Charlot123]

If I were to guess, the jewelry is sitting at an art dealers’s collection at a certain Freeport. I have investigated - this has been practice for years, and in this context, it is interesting that Leonardo Notobartolo has given the thieves precisely this advice, to sit on the items. Even taken apart, they’d still not move the stones now as the diamond market is very much down, but expect to recover. Maybe, then.

Can they trace the scooters? Their way? To the North or to the South of France? I guess the scooters were chosen because they don’t have the GPS, but there are satellite images, cameras, what not.

More about art galleries and freeports. (The Drlaware one has closed.) Hong Kong one is the most criticized for the level of protection it provides to potential thieves. Where is the stolen art? In one of them, I bet.

Freeports for the Art World

A guide to their uses

www.wealthmanagement.com

 

[StarryStarryNight]

Personally pleased the museum guards weren’t armed - if they were known to be, the thieves may have brought more than an angle grinder and we may be reading about loss of life as well as gem.

I’m also team NotMeltedDown. Robbing the louvre?? Asking for the world’s attention. I’ve seen 75,000 memes about those gems today. Stealing them so flagrantly surely adds them to the pop culture lexicon and adds some zeros to the price tag. What would some eccentric billionaires pay to own an item from the famous 2025 louvre heist?? Wishful thinking, anyway.

My thinking is more of the kind that one guard with one gun would have stopped this entire crime instantly.
Better yet, knowing security was well armed, the thieves might never have even considered the heist.

 

[PrairieWind]

My thinking is more of the kind that one guard with one gun would have stopped this entire crime instantly.
Better yet, knowing security was well armed, the thieves might never have even considered the heist.

I think there is something to this. They guys did this knowing the guards, if encountered, would not try to stop them. Literally one armed guard, or a guard with some physical skills and willingness to act, would have stopped this.

 

[Dotta]

"Video appears
to show Louvre thieves escaping"

Video appears to show Louvre thieves escaping after heist

See the apparent moment suspected thieves escaped the Louvre after stealing jewels worth more than $100 million.

eu.usatoday.com

"Footage showing two men
appears to have been filmed from nearby window in museum."

Louvre thieves’ slow-motion getaway using furniture lift was caught on video

Footage showing two men appears to have been filmed from nearby window in museum

www.theguardian.com

 

[StarryStarryNight]

I think there is something to this. They guys did this knowing the guards, if encountered, would not try to stop them. Literally one armed guard, or a guard with some physical skills and willingness to act, would have stopped this.

Yeah, this is kinda what how I was imagining it.

 

[Inthedetails]

My thinking is more of the kind that one guard with one gun would have stopped this entire crime instantly.
Better yet, knowing security was well armed, the thieves might never have even considered the heist.

Oh, I hope museum guards are never armed. I worked in a museum in public education and the idea of armed guards is really off-putting. Our guards were wonderful but definitely not there to deal with criminals. Museums are educational and cultural places and security doesn't need to involve fire arms. IMO

jmopinion

 

[PrairieWind]

Oh, I hope museum guards are never armed. I worked in a museum in public education and the idea of armed guards is really off-putting. Our guards were wonderful but definitely not there to deal with criminals. Museums are educational and cultural places and security doesn't need to involve fire arms. IMO

jmopinion

Museums that possess a nations crown jewels and art works with hundreds of millions of dollars are a little different that your local museum you take the school kids to. But there is no reason that armed guards should be a problem anyway. They are there to protect. Art/jewel thefts are increasing in Europe. If there are not going to be armed guards, this valuable artwork simply will no longer be on public display.

 

[Inthedetails]

Museums that possess a nations crown jewels and art works with hundreds of millions of dollars are a little different that your local museum you take the school kids to. But there is no reason that armed guards should be a problem anyway. They are there to protect. Art/jewel thefts are increasing in Europe. If there are not going to be armed guards, this valuable artwork simply will no longer be on public display.

FWIW, I didn't work at a "local museum you take the school kids to," but a museum on par with the Louvre.

jmopinion

 

[PrairieWind]

FWIW, I didn't work at a "local museum you take the school kids to," but a museum on par with the Louvre.

jmopinion

I apologize for misinterpreting your comment. But I stand by my statement that no museum on the level of the Louvre, with its valuable items and volume of patrons, should be without prevalent armed security.

 

[Dotta]

"Louvre heist lift-maker ​

seizes the moment with new ad campaign.​

A German company
inadvertently embroiled in the Louvre Museum heist after one of its lifts was used in the theft
is making the most of its free publicity
- by launching a new advertising campaign.

Werne-based firm Böcker this week published a social media post
featuring the now famous image of its furniture ladder extending up to a balcony outside the Gallery of Apollo.

'When you need to move fast'
reads a banner under the image.
'The Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400kg at 42m/min - quiet as a whisper'.

Speaking to the AFP news agency on Wednesday,
the company's managing director, Alexander Böcker, said
when it became clear no one was injured in the heist they used
'a touch of humour'
to draw attention to the family-run business."

Louvre heist lift-maker seizes the moment with new ad campaign

The firm touted its "quiet as a whisper" technology for "when you need to move fast".

www.bbc.com

 

[Charlot123]

"Louvre heist lift-maker ​

seizes the moment with new ad campaign.​

A German company
inadvertently embroiled in the Louvre Museum heist after one of its lifts was used in the theft
is making the most of its free publicity
- by launching a new advertising campaign.

Werne-based firm Böcker this week published a social media post
featuring the now famous image of its furniture ladder extending up to a balcony outside the Gallery of Apollo.

'When you need to move fast'
reads a banner under the image.
'The Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400kg at 42m/min - quiet as a whisper'.

Speaking to the AFP news agency on Wednesday,
the company's managing director, Alexander Böcker, said
when it became clear no one was injured in the heist they used
'a touch of humour'
to draw attention to the family-run business."

Louvre heist lift-maker seizes the moment with new ad campaign

The firm touted its "quiet as a whisper" technology for "when you need to move fast".

www.bbc.com

This is funny and a good joke. May Mr. Böcker and his family be the only people to profit from the Louvre heist. They deserve good sales, but no one else does.

 

[Dotta]

"DNA leads and video trail drive search for stolen Louvre crown jewels.​

French police have gathered
more than 150 DNA samples and fingerprints
in the hunt for the thieves behind a daring daylight raid on the Louvre
that saw eight royal jewels worth €88 million stolen.

Police have plenty of footage.
Officers have tracked the thieves’ route across Paris and nearby areas
using public and private cameras.

The prosecutor said the aim is to arrest the thieves fast
to recover the jewels before the stones are removed and the metals melted down.

Less than 24 hours after the Louvre break-in,
staff at the Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot museum in the eastern town of Langres
found a display case smashed and part of its treasure missing.

The stolen items included gold and silver coins unearthed during renovation work in 2011.

Police say
they are not ruling out any link,
including a copycat attempt."

DNA leads and video trail drive search for stolen Louvre crown jewels

French police have gathered more than 150 DNA samples and fingerprints in the hunt for the thieves behind a daring daylight raid on the Louvre that saw eight royal jewels worth €88 million stolen.

www.rfi.fr

 

[PrairieWind]

"Louvre heist lift-maker ​

seizes the moment with new ad campaign.​

A German company
inadvertently embroiled in the Louvre Museum heist after one of its lifts was used in the theft
is making the most of its free publicity
- by launching a new advertising campaign.

Werne-based firm Böcker this week published a social media post
featuring the now famous image of its furniture ladder extending up to a balcony outside the Gallery of Apollo.

'When you need to move fast'
reads a banner under the image.
'The Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400kg at 42m/min - quiet as a whisper'.

Speaking to the AFP news agency on Wednesday,
the company's managing director, Alexander Böcker, said
when it became clear no one was injured in the heist they used
'a touch of humour'
to draw attention to the family-run business."

Louvre heist lift-maker seizes the moment with new ad campaign

The firm touted its "quiet as a whisper" technology for "when you need to move fast".

www.bbc.com

I agree the ad is pretty funny and certainly meant in jest, it could be interpreted badly. Now really isn't a good time to start stirring up bad feelings between Germans and French.

 

[PrairieWind]

The only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the Louvre where they broke in was pointing away from the first-floor balcony that led to Gallery of Apollo housing the jewels, she said.

Louvre failed to spot jewel thieves early enough, says museum boss

Laurence des Cars said there was only one camera pointing on the gallery which was robbed.

www.bbc.com

The Louvre admits they really missed the chance to see the thieves approaching. But then praise the evacuation. "She praised security guards who she said acted quickly to evacuate the building as soon as they were aware there had been an intrusion, ..." I am wondering if this wasn't a huge mistake actually. A huge jewel theft, and the museum is actually quickly shooing people out? wouldn't it have been better to hold everyone and search them before they left the property?