On 19 October 2025 thieves entered the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery through a window and made off with eight French crown jewels in seven minutes. What we know about the theft.
On the morning of Sunday 19 October 2025, shortly after opening time, a group of thieves arrived at the Louvre with a truck-mounted lift, rose to a balcony on the façade overlooking the Seine, forced a window and entered the Apollo Gallery, where the French crown jewels are displayed. In about seven minutes they smashed two display cases, took the pieces and fled on motorbikes.
What was taken
According to the French Ministry of Culture, the thieves took eight jewels from the nineteenth century, including pieces that belonged to Empress Eugénie, Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. The museum’s curator estimated their value at some €88 million, though their historical value is far greater. A ninth piece, Empress Eugénie’s crown, was dropped during the escape and recovered damaged.
The museum closed that day and the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation. Over the following days police arrested several suspects, but the jewels did not reappear immediately, and experts feared they would be broken up so that the stones could be sold separately.
A debate on security
The theft exposed security shortcomings at the world’s most visited museum, which receives almost nine million visitors a year. A report by France’s Court of Audit, published a few weeks later, pointed to delays in installing cameras and protection systems in many rooms, and the Louvre’s management had called in January for a plan to renovate the building.
Why it matters to a collector
Major pieces in public museums are usually insured by the state itself, and their loss is above all cultural. For private collectors, the case is a reminder that jewellery, art and valuables need proper physical protection, a documented inventory with photographs and certificates, and insurance with up-to-date values.
It is worth reviewing valuations regularly, where pieces are kept and what the policy covers, because many home insurance policies limit cover for jewellery and works of art. Ask your adviser and a specialist in fine-art insurance.
What cannot be replaced is what costs most to protect.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
