Pros 'stealing to order' in the Great Louvre Robbery

Art loss specialists say the gems are en route to Eastern Europe to be recut or broken up, but there is hope they can be retrieved intact, writes Vanessa Thorpe

- Vanessa Thorpe

While the politicians in Paris were wringing their hands, the gendarmerie were scratching their heads and the internet was exploding with memes and jokes at France's expense, the loot from the Louvre heist was making its way across Europe.

Or that's the informed best guess of authorities. Six days into the hunt for France's stolen crown jewels, detectives are plotting the likeliest routes taken by the gems. The likelihood, according to art loss experts, is that the jewellery was taken by professionals with a plan, a retiring thief wanting to go out with a good story. It will have left the country at speed and is likely being held in a secure vault or safe in Eastern Europe, ready to play its part in underworld deals over the next decade.

Jewels estimated to be worth €88m in base material alone were snatched from the Louvre's Apollo Gallery early last Sunday morning. Nine pieces were taken, including earrings, two tiaras and two brooches, one of which is a tasselled diamond bow. And from the moment the world first gasped at the audacity of the crime, one question has dominated: how can anyone sell gems this hot?