On Sunday 10/19/2025, in seven minutes, a commando of four men executed a heist. They were disguised as agents and targeted the Louvre Museum in Paris. Additionally, they took eight jewels. Two pieces, including the crown of Eugénie, were found, damaged. The museum closed on 10/20/2025, tickets refunded. The BRB is investigating, while Rachida Dati and Laurent Nuñez announce increased security measures.
Minute by minute: the unfolding of the attack
Sunday October 19, 2025, a team of four individuals disguised as construction agents struck the Galerie d’Apollon of the Louvre Museum. According to initial reports, the commando took advantage of a logistical window on the facade to reach the floor by crane. At 9:30 AM, they forced a window with power tools. In less than seven minutes, two display cases were cut open. Moreover, eight jewels were taken. These pieces came from the Crown Jewels, including tiaras, necklaces, and earrings. The alarm sounded at 9:37 AM. The exit is estimated at 9:38 AM. The thieves retreated via the quai François-Mitterrand, joined scooters parked nearby, and disappeared.
The provisional report mentions eight pieces stolen. However, a crown attributed to Empress Eugénie was abandoned. It was found but damaged. Another piece was left in the room during the escape. No injuries were reported. Tools, gloves, and material elements were recovered.
Presumed operational scheme
Access: crane/ladder → Break-in: window broken with a grinder → Target: two display cases → Seizure: jewelry (diamonds, sapphires, emeralds) → Exfiltration: scooters on public road.
The targeted pieces: history, heritage value, where they were displayed
The Galerie d’Apollon (room 705, Denon wing) houses an emblematic presentation of the Crown Diamonds. The administration cites sapphire jewelry linked to Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. Additionally, emeralds are associated with Empress Marie-Louise. The tiara and crown of Eugénie belong to the most well-known iconography of the Second Empire. The Regent Diamond, a totem piece displayed nearby, was not stolen.
Where were they visible? At the heart of the tour, in reinforced display cases, under a painted vault celebrating the solar cycle. This dialogue between monumental decor and micro-mechanical jewelry confers all the prestige to the room. Indeed, it has been restored and refurbished over the past decades.
Value: no official estimate is communicated at this stage. Authorities emphasize the heritage value rather than market value. The integrity of the settings, the historical context (imperial commissions, donations, reconstructions), and the irreplaceable documentary nature take precedence over a market price.
The investigation: means, hypotheses, coordination
The Brigade de répression du banditisme (BRB) leads the investigations under the authority of the Paris Public Prosecutor, Laure Beccuau. About sixty investigators are mobilized. The investigation vectors focus on:
- Exhaustive exploitation of video surveillance of the museum and the city (surroundings, escape routes).
- Technical and scientific police: tool traces, glass fragments, metals, DNA and fingerprints on abandoned objects.
- Telephony: cell tower data, routes, relays.
- Criminal intelligence: specialized fencing networks, private orders, dismantling/refining channels.
Motivations: several scenarios are being studied. Custom order of iconic pieces, dismantling of settings for resale of stones after recutting. Additionally, there is heritage blackmail (rare). European precedents (Dresden, 2019) remind us that the rapid evaporation of gems after dismantling complicates recovery.
Immediate consequences: closure, tickets, visitor information
The Louvre remained closed on 10/20/2025 for security and assessments. Dated tickets for that day are subject to automatic refund through usual channels. Visitors are invited to check their email and their client space associated with the reservation. For group and school visits, a rescheduling is offered via the museum’s visitor relations circuits. Services confirm that reopening will be gradual, zone by zone, after validation of procedures.
Responsibilities and security: flaw or system?
The government has requested a temporary reinforcement of measures around museums. An instruction to prefects was announced by the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, to adapt protection to sensitive sites and flows. In parallel, the Ministry of Culture, led by Rachida Dati, has launched an administrative investigation focused on internal procedures, logistical flows, and the interface with private operators (maintenance, security, works).
Several internal documents and feedback highlight structural vulnerabilities: delays in compliance, video surveillance gaps, staffing constraints, and overcrowding. The Galerie d’Apollon concentrates exceptional heritage value in a complex circulation conduit, with multiple technical accesses. The articulation between construction and exhibition constitutes a recurring point of fragility in historical museums.
The black market for historical jewelry: why do these pieces attract?
Historical jewelry combines political prestige and 19th-century jeweler watchmaking expertise. On the parallel market, three levers create appetite:
- International visibility of the pieces (abundant iconography, digital dissemination), paradoxically useful for private orders.
- Liquidity of detached stones (diamonds, sapphires, emeralds), once dismantled, recut, and re-certified.
- Pressure capacity or exchange in transnational criminal networks.
However, the risks are high: increasing traceability of stones, invisible markings, European police cooperation, and mobilization of gemologist experts. The average recovery times, when it occurs, are counted in years.
Reactions and political stakes: heritage, image, trust
The executive qualifies the affair as an attack on national heritage. The head of state and the concerned ministers emphasize the imperative to recover the works and punish the perpetrators. Museum staff highlight the adherence to protocols when the alarm was triggered. However, they demand sustainable investments. Unions mention the tension between mass reception and preservation, exacerbated by budget constraints. Beyond France, the affair recalls famous heists in Boston (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum). Thus, it reinforces the vigilance of international lenders.
Beyond the Louvre, the event revives a review of doctrine on museum security in France: pooling of resources, inter-museum audits, stress-tests of scenarios (flash break-in, intrusion via construction, hybrid attacks), interoperability of video networks and alert chains. Insurers and international lenders will closely follow the guarantees offered before any future major loan.
Unanswered questions
- Exact escape trajectory (elevator truck, scooter relay, toll towards the A6?) and possible hideouts.
- Complicity: prior scouting, logistical access, exploited technical subcontracting.
- Precise condition of the recovered pieces (level of alteration of the crown, possible reassembly, restoration costs).
- Exhaustive list and official photographs of the targeted jewels to be compared with internal catalogs.
- Timeline for the complete reopening of the Galerie d’Apollon.