Louvre to Restore Crown Damaged in Raid
November 11, 25
(IDEX Online) - The imperial crown of France's Empress Eugenie - dropped by thieves fleeing the Louvre heist last month - will be restored, says the museum's director.
Laurence des Cars said the crown, with more than 1,300 diamonds, 56 emeralds and eight golden eagles, was likely damaged as the raiders cut into the display case, rather than when it was dropped as they made their escape.
"All of the most important pieces, the diamonds and emeralds, are actually still there," she told the news channel France Info.
"A few small pieces of diamonds are missing, but that's about it," she said. "One of the eight gold eagles on the crown is missing."
The crown was created for Eugenie de Montijo, empress consort to Napoleon III, in 1855.
A four-man gang used a mechanical ladder to reach a second-floor balcony and break into the museum's Apollo Gallery on 19 October.
They cut through the display cases with power tools and escaped on motorbikes with eight items of the crown jewels, jointly valued at $102m.
Pic of Eugenie's crown courtesy the Louvre.