A diadem dripping in diamonds, a tiara spangled in sapphires, and a set of shimmering emerald earrings. These are only a few of the objects that went missing at the Louvre Museum on the morning of Sunday, October 19, 2025, when thieves posing as workers stole several pieces of the French Crown Jewels.
The thieves appeared at the museum around 30 minutes after the first visitors were allowed in, slicing through a window, smashing several displays, and snatching up the treasures before fleeing the scene on scooters.
Here’s how the thieves performed the heist, stealing some of the shiniest pieces in the world’s most-visited museum.
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Collection of Crown Jewels Stolen
The heist started at around 9:30 a.m., according to the Associated Press. At that time, a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift — a type of machine that’s commonly used in Paris to move furniture in and out of buildings — was positioned against the museum’s south-facing façade, where it carried the thieves to a first-floor window.
At around 9:34 a.m., the thieves used a disc cutter, a specialized power tool with a circular blade, to saw through the window, triggering the security alarms, and then stepped into the Apollon Gallery, where the Crown Jewels were displayed. With the alarms triggered, the thieves broke into two displays and took the treasures. By 9:38 a.m., the thieves had already disappeared, having driven away on two scooters waiting on the street.
With them were a total of eight items, embellished with thousands of diamonds and glittering gemstones, including diadems, tiaras, and other jewelry from the French royalty. Among the stolen jewels were a diadem and two brooches from Empress Eugénie (1826-1920), the wife of Napoleon III; an emerald necklace and earring set from Empress Marie Louise (1791-1847), the wife of Napoleon I; and a sapphire tiara, a sapphire necklace, and a single sapphire earring from Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense.
A ninth object, a diamond- and emerald-encrusted crown from Empress Eugénie, which was likely left behind by the thieves as they escaped, was discovered outside on the street. The crown contains a total of 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, and appeared to be broken — a better fate than that of the other objects, which will probably be separated into pieces and sold, according to the BBC, that is, if they aren’t found first.
Historical Heists at the Louvre
The whole incident took place on the museum’s first floor, only a few galleries (and a few hundred feet, around 810) away from the Mona Lisa, itself a victim of a previous theft. In 1911, a man named Vincenzo Peruggia, who worked for the museum and constructed the painting’s case, took the 16th-century masterpiece, then only moderately famous, off the wall and concealed it inside his coat, carrying it outside after the museum closed. The painting was recovered in 1914 in Florence, and was returned to the museum — amid much media fanfare — as a much more renowned work.
Other heists have occurred at the Louvre since then, including the 1998 theft of Le Chemin de Sevres, a 19th-century painting that’s still missing today.
These past thefts, along with others, have prompted a perpetual interest in the museum’s security systems, which continue to capture attention today. Indeed, the Louvre launched an ongoing project — the “Nouvelle Renaissance,” or New Renaissance — to increase its protection for its priceless pieces of art earlier this year, according to the Associated Press. The project includes plans for a new command center and other security system improvements, in the hopes of preventing this sort of incident in the future.
Though none of the museum visitors were injured, the museum was evacuated and closed immediately after the theft. The Louvre kept its doors shut on Monday, with a notice on its website stating that “the Musée du Louvre will remain closed today for exceptional reasons.” Though the Louvre isn’t open today, and typically isn’t on Tuesdays, it isn’t clear when the museum will reopen.
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