Jewellery connaisseurs and collectors know a thing or two about temptation. You just can’t stare at a 19th-century tiara or a sapphire dripping in royal scandal without that little devil on your shoulder whispering: what if it was yours?
As you’re all aware by now – a few weeks ago, the intrusive thoughts won.
In a mere 8 minutes, two thieves entered Galerie d’Apollon (one of my favourite wings in the Louvre) and stole €88m worth of French crown jewels. It was a classic heist; no scam, no con, just your classic smash-and-grab, and I can’t stop reading EVERYTHING about it.
The purloined beauties included: Empress Eugenie’s diamond and pearl tiara and brooch, Empress Marie Louise’s emerald necklace and earrings, Queen Marie-Amelie’s (and, later, Queen Hortense’s) sapphire tiara, necklace and single earring and – WORST OF ALL – the reliquary brooch. All I can say is they really had good taste, but also I’m glad they didn’t take anything from my main gal, Marie-Antoinette.
Now they’re in a duffel bag somewhere, or already dismantled into untraceable stones. It’s heartbreaking. Every jeweller knows you can’t just remake provenance. Sure, you can melt the gold, you can break down jewels, you can reset them – but you can’t rebuild centuries of History.
As at the time of writing, a few suspects have been taken into custody – one caught at Charles de Gaulle Airport, the another was found in outer-Paris.
Post-heist, many of my clients, friends and followers were reaching out to ask me about what is going to happen to these precious pieces now?
Obviously, it’s too soon to tell what they were trying to do – but, were I a betting man – I would say that those pieces have been broken right up. There’s an underbelly in all high-jewellery, so it’s safe to say these pieces won’t be appearing on eBay, or at your nearest Sotheby’s or Christie’s. The gorgeous stones (I’m not crying, you are) are going to be broken up, the metals will be melted down, and they will be repurposed as much as possible. The loot in this heist wasn’t just glamorous, it was decadent and had been present through so much of France’s incredible history.
At the same time the bulk of the value of the jewellery taken is its history and provenance. Most of them are made in silver. The diamonds on Eugenie’s brooch for example are nice but not that big. The reliquary is the only one with huge famous diamonds that could be recut and resold. If they break the jewellery in parts and melt it, the total value of the heist would drop from €88 million to a measly €6-7 million.
The other alternative is that a very rich jewellery collector or Saudi princess visited the Louvre one day, they liked what they saw and decided to order a few robbers to grab a tiara and necklace or two. In that case, there might be a chance that the jewellery is still intact.
My favorite piece is this reliquary mostly for the provenance of its diamonds, which belonged to Mazarin and Louis XIV. Two icons who loved their diamonds! You can see in the picture the diamonds are all shades of whites to warmer tones and off-white and slightly pastel pinks. And that’s my favorite part! Some of them exhibit clear characteristics of diamonds coming from the Golconda mine. The original source of diamonds before the 19th century and now the mine is closed and supply dried up.
If this saga makes you think twice about your own treasures – their security, their history, the sentimental value – then let’s talk. Whether you’re crafting your jewellery collection, restoring an heirloom, or hunting for a piece worthy of stealing, I’d love to help you find (or protect!) something perfect just for you.
For my eagle-eyed subscribers on @guillaumecuratesjewels, you may have noticed I was in Paris the same weekend. And I will hear NONE of it. There is NO correlation.
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