Estimated value of ’priceless’ jewels stolen in Louvre heist revealed

Multiple masked men broke into the museum on Sunday morning and plucked jewels from display cases during a seven-minute raid. 

The stolen items included a tiara, necklace, and earring from the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense.

It has now been revealed the items may have been worth roughly £76m.

The suspects, suspected to be three or four in number, then jumped onto a motor scooter to escape.

Parisian prosecutor Laure Beccuau gave an update on Tuesday where she said about 100 investigators were helping the police find the men and the gems.

She told broadcaster RTL: "The wrongdoers who took these gems won’t earn €88m if they had the very bad idea of disassembling these jewels.

"We can perhaps hope that they’ll think about this and won’t destroy these jewels without rhyme or reason."

France’s culture minister said the security apparatus installed at the Louvre worked properly during the theft following claims the cameras might have failed. 

The robbers also stole an emerald necklace, a pair of emerald earrings, and a brooch known as the "reliquary brooch" from the Empress Marie Louise set, as well as the tiara and a large corsage bow of Empress Eugenie.

A ninth item was also stolen but recovered at the Louvre.

’Priceless’

French interior minister Laurent Nunez previously described the items stolen as "priceless."

He said: "They broke a window and went towards several display cases where they stole jewellery.

"These are jewels that have genuine heritage value and are, in fact, priceless."

The museum is home to some of history’s most iconic works of art.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the ancient Greek sculpture Venus de Milo, and the Hellenistic sculpture Winged Victory of Samothrace can be found in the Parisian gallery.