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It sounds like a scene straight out of Lupin, but this actually happened at the Louvre on October 19th. In less than four minutes, four thieves pulled off a robbery so absurd it borders on cinematic. They parked a basket lift by the Seine posing as contruction workers, climbed up to a balcony, sliced through a window with an angle grinder, and smashed open two high-security cases in the Apollo Gallery, home to France’s crown jewels, 30 minutes after the museum\“s opening.  View this photo on Instagram
Then, as if it were just another Sunday, they sped off on motorcycles with eight expensive pieces of royal history, all while visitors were still inside.
Authorities are still investigating how the thieves planned such a precise heist, why the crown jewels were targeted, and who could have pulled it off with such audacity.
While I was still trying to process the fact that someone parked a basket lift outside the Louvre like it was an Amazon delivery, I got curious about what exactly was worth all that chaos.  DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP via Getty Images / Via gettyimages.in
So, I looked up the origins of the stolen pieces, and let’s just say, their history is almost as weighted as the heist itself.
The stolen haul isn’t just any shiny stuff—it’s two centuries of French royal history. Among the loot was Empress Eugénie’s tiara and crown, crafted by famed jeweller Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier shortly after her 1853 wedding to Napoleon III. MAEVA DESTOMBES / Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images / Via gettyimages.in, MAEVA DESTOMBES / Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images / Via gettyimages.in
The crown got left behind in the getaway, but the tiara? That was her go-to court piece, practically glued to her head in official portraits, basically, the royal equivalent of a signature look. It has 212 pearls and 1,998 diamonds. Photo Josse/Leemage / Corbis via Getty Images / Via gettyimages.in
The thieves also grabbed a sapphire necklace, a diadem, and a single earring with some serious royal cred. It belonged to Queen Marie Amelie, wife of King Louis-Philippe, and Queen Hortense, Napoleon III’s mom, who inherited it from Empress Joséphine, Napoleon I’s first wife. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP via Getty Images / Via gettyimages.in
The diadem—a royal-worthy headpiece—is decked out with 24 Ceylon sapphires and 1,083 diamonds, which can even be detached and rocked as brooches.
Some experts even say it might have originally belonged to Marie Antoinette, a piece that’s been passed down through French royalty for generations. The set stayed in the Orléans family for decades before the Louvre snapped it up in 1985.
The thieves didn’t stop at sapphires. They also made off with a necklace and emerald earrings, a wedding gift from Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise, crafted by her personal jeweller, François-Regnault Nitot. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP via Getty Images / Via gettyimages.in
In 1953, jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels bought the set, and the tiara’s emeralds were later swapped for turquoise by an American collector, which now lives at the Smithsonian. The necklace and earrings, though, stayed true to their original glory and landed at the Louvre in 2004 for a cool €3.7 million （$4.3 million）.
Next up on the thieves’ list: Empress Eugénie’s diamond-studded reliquary brooch. Made in 1855 by Paul-Alfred Bapst, it wasn’t just sparkle for sparkle’s sake, it held a sacred relic, showing off Eugénie’s Catholic faith. With 94 diamonds, including the historic 17th and 18th Mazarin diamonds gifted to Louis XIV by Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, this piece carried serious royal weight. Louvre / Via collections.louvre.fr
Also taken was Empress Eugénie’s diamond bow brooch, which started life as the buckle of a massive 4,000-stone diamond belt showcased at the 1855 Universal Exhibition. Crafted by François Kramer, Eugénie wore the belt for Queen Victoria’s visit to Versailles and again for her son’s baptism. Later, she had one of her own jewellers transform it into a standalone brooch, adding cascading diamond tassels. Christie\“s / Via christies.com
And just like that, in under four minutes, a piece of French history zipped out the window and onto the streets of Paris. Now, while the Louvre scrambles to track them down, the world is left staring at empty cases and wondering: who just made off with a crown jewel collection like it was a bag of chips? |
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发表于 2025-10-29 08:39:31