On October 19, 2025, thieves stole $102 million worth of crown jewels from the Musée de Louvre in Paris. The French Empress Eugénie’s crown was dropped and damaged in the haste of the thieves’ getaway.
According to the BBC, the crown is missing one of its eight golden eagles, but still contains its 56 emeralds, and only 10 of the 1 354 diamonds are missing. Though deformed, the Louvre is confident that the 19th-century crown will be restored to its original state and does not need reconstruction.
Artnet reports that the judicial police initially secured the crown as evidence but returned it to the museum’s Department of Decorative Arts the following day. The department director, Oliver Gabet, and deputy director, Anne Dion, carried out a condition report of the state of the crown.
The Empress’ crown is one of the only three crowns of French rulers that remain in France and has been part of the museum’s collection since 1988.
The Louvre is opening the bidding process to hire an accredited restorer to carry out the work, in compliance with France’s Heritage Code, the Museums Act, and the Public Procurement Code. Oversight of the restoration will be undertaken by a committee of experts, chaired by Louvre director Laurence des Cars.
Police have traced the movement of the stolen jewels as far as a suburban parking garage, and have arrested four suspects, but the jewels have not yet been recovered.
[Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1-Crown_of_Empress_Eug%C3%A9nieDSC_0247.jpg]
