After the burglary in the Louvre Museum on 19th October, resulting in the theft of several of the jewels of the former royal and imperial collection, several people have been arrested and indicted in the past days, several of them being suspected to be the burglars themselves. Not all of the burglars have been arrested, yet. The "Procureur de la République" (prosecutor, in charge of the investigation) has, for understandable reasons, restricted the communication about the progress of the investigation, in order not to disclose sensitive information or clues which could help the thefts still in liberty. I understand that the progress of the investigation are mostly related to technical elements (CCTV, forensic analyses...) rather than to the confessions of the people arrested. Unfortunately, the jewels have still not been found so far.

Olivier Gabet, head of the artefacts department of the Louvre Museum (a department which includes the jewellery collection of the Museum), has given a few interesting information in an interview to Le Monde paper on 28th October:
https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/10/28/olivier-gabet-directeur-du-departement-des-objets-d-art-au-louvre-penser-qu-on-pourrait-remplacer-les-uvres-par-des-copies-c-est-presque-nier-ce-qu-elles-sont_6649925_3246.html

In this interview, he mentions that:

- "Contrary to what has been reported, the thieves did not smash the display cases, but rather created slits through which they extracted the items. There is no broken glass on the floor, only ultra-fine, high-tech glass dust"

- one of the earrings of Empress Marie-Louise's emerald parure (consisting of a necklace and a pair of earrings) has not been stolen

- about Empress Eugenie's crown, which has been initially taken by the burglars, but dropped when they left the Louvre, and found back on the street: "It was found by investigators at the foot of the Apollo Gallery, on the floor. Its condition is not due to a fall, as has been reported, but to its removal from the display cases. As I mentioned, the cases weren't broken, but had a narrow cut through which the thieves ripped out the jewels. Particularly light and malleable, the crown was deformed and flattened during its removal. It was held by the criminal investigation department as evidence and analyzed for twenty-four hours before being handed over to us on Monday, October 20th. (...) A few small diamonds and one gold eagle are missing, out of the eight that adorn the crown. None of the large diamonds and emeralds are missing. The globe surmounted by the cross at the top of the crown is also intact. It is therefore entirely restorable. This work will need to be carried out by restorers in conjunction with jewelry and goldsmithing specialists, because it requires very delicate reshaping. In the emotional aftermath of last week, we felt it was essential to secure it first. In the coming weeks, we will take the necessary steps to have it restored. I am reasonably optimistic that it can be returned to its original condition. It will never be exactly as it was originally, but it will be very close and will, of course, retain its full symbolic value".