The Brazen Heist at Louvre Museum

In the early morning of October 19, 2025, one of the most audacious jewelry heists in history was pulled off at the heart of Paris. At approximately 9:30 a.m., just after the doors of the Louvre opened to the public, a team of professional thieves struck hard. 

The target was the illustrious Galerie d’Apollon, which is home to some of France’s royal crown jewels. The thieves used a cherry-picker (aerial basket lift) to ascend the Lycée‐Seine side of the museum, smashed a window, and forced entry. The entire raid took a scant four to seven minutes. 

Once inside, they destroyed the glass cases safeguarding priceless jewels and made off with eight (or nine) historic pieces, including necklaces, earrings and brooches that once adorned Empress Eugénie, Queen Marie-Amélie, and other 19th-century French aristocracy. For example: an emerald and diamond necklace given by Napoleon Bonaparte to his wife Marie Louise; sapphires worn by Hortense de Beauharnais. 

One crown - the ornate crown of Empress Eugénie, studded with over 1,300 diamonds and 56 emeralds - was later found broken and abandoned outside the museum. 

French officials were quick to label this “an attack on heritage” (President Emmanuel Macron) and “a highly professional gang” (Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez) behind the operation. 

Security failures that had long been flagged at the museum now sit in the spotlight: insufficient staffing, structural renovations underway, and easy access for the thieves via construction zones. The museum closed for the remainder of the day to preserve the crime scene. 

 

---

 

Other Legendary Jewelry Heists Through Time

 

1. Vincenzo Peruggia & The Theft of the Mona Lisa (1911)

Back in August 1911, Peruggia, an Italian handyman who once worked at the Louvre, quietly walked out with the iconic painting. He hid inside the museum, wore a white smock like the staff, removed the painting from its frame, and simply walked it out, concealing it under his coat. 

Though this heist was of a painting rather than jewelry, it set the bar for daring museum thefts and it duly made history.

 

2. The Dresden Green Vault Burglary (2019)

In November 2019, thieves entered the Green Vault in Dresden, Germany, by blasting a wall and looting over €1 billion worth of 18th-century jewelry and gemstones. Many pieces remain missing and are feared melted down.

 

3. The Pink Panther Gang and High-End Boutique Heists

The famed “Pink Panther” gang (believed to originate in the Balkans) carried out multiple, flamboyant robberies of high-end jewelry boutiques around the world, but often in Paris and Monte Carlo. One such 2008 Paris raid involved women impersonating customers, cutting glass, and escaping with over $100 million in gems.

What ties all these heists together: incredible planning, minimal violence, and the assumption the stolen pieces are either melted or vanish into the black market.

 

Why Jewelry Thefts Are So Intriguing - and Dangerous

Jewelry, especially historical royal pieces, carry multiple layers of value:

• Material value – diamonds, emeralds, gold.
• Historical value – provenance from royalty or famed historical figures.
• Mobility & anonymity – once removed from their display context, jewels can be melted, recut, or disguised.
• High scandal factor – tales of daring theft capture public imagination in a way fewer art heists do.

The 2025 Louvre heist ticks all those boxes: high stakes, royal provenance, rapid execution, and a bold daylight setting inside a world-famous museum.