On Oct. 19, on what started as a typical day in Paris, ended very unusually when the Galerie d’Apollon of the Louvre was robbed. The robbery occurred during regular operating hours and only lasted a couple of minutes.
The Breakdown
On Sunday morning, about thirty minutes after the Louvre opened, the thieves began their robbery. The thieves were dressed and disguised as workers. They entered on the south side of the building, with the help of a mechanical ladder attached to a truck. Two of the four robbers entered the building by climbing the ladder and smashing a hole into the window with power tools and drills. After drilling through the window, the thieves were in the Apollo Gallery within the Louvre. The Apollo Gallery is home to the majority of the Louvre’s royal gems, jewels and important paintings like the Mona Lisa. Two of the cases within the Apollo Gallery were sawn into. The robbers left four minutes after entering, bringing with them eight pieces from the chambers of the Apollo Gallery. They left down the same ladder and quickly fled the crime scene.
What Was Taken
The thieves successfully brought with them seven pieces from the Louvre. A diamond tiara and pearl baroche are two of the missing items. The tiara itself is made up of 212 pearls, 1,999 diamonds and 992 rose-cut stones. Next, a sapphire jewelry set was taken. The set consists of a necklace, a tiara and a single earring. An emerald necklace and earrings were also stolen. This set was gifted to Marie-Louise of Austria, Napoleon’s second wife. A diamond and gold brooch known as the “reliquary brooch” was also taken from the exhibit. Lastly, a royal crown was originally taken during the heist, but was dropped and left behind by the robbers.
Current Updates
While the city of Paris has hundreds of officers actively searching, the robbers have still not been identified. There are about 100 investigators working to look for the stolen jewels. Currently, people are worried that the thieves will melt the jewels down to sell, so officials are working as fast as they can to retrieve the missing jewels. While the Apollo room remains closed until investigators identify more clues in the case, the rest of the Louvre has reopened to the public. Since the robbery, Paris officials have come out and said that an estimated $102 million worth of jewels were stolen during the heist. Separate from the economic value, the pieces hold a lot of historic and sentimental value, especially to the citizens of France.
What do you think? Tweet us @VALLEYmag on Twitter!
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I’ll certainly return.
Thanks for your marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you happen to be a great author.I will remember to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back from now on. I want to encourage one to continue your great writing, have a nice evening!
A powerful share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a bit analysis on this. And he in reality purchased me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the deal with! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading extra on this topic. If possible, as you become experience, would you mind updating your weblog with extra details? It is highly useful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
You are my aspiration, I own few web logs and occasionally run out from brand :). “Fiat justitia et pereat mundus.Let justice be done, though the world perish.” by Ferdinand I.
Hi my family member! I wish to say that this post is awesome, nice written and come with approximately all important infos. I’d like to see more posts like this .
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch as I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
Great write-up, I’m normal visitor of one’s website, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
Wow! This could be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Great. I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your hard work.
whoah this blog is fantastic i love reading your articles. Keep up the great work! You know, a lot of people are hunting around for this information, you can help them greatly.
I like what you guys are up also. Such intelligent work and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my website 🙂