Louvre Museum heist: Thieves disguised as construction workers steal priceless Napoleon jewels | Watch

A series of images and a video from the Louvre Museum heist have surfaced online, showing how thieves carried out a brazen, broad daylight robbery at one of the most secure museums in the world.

The footage, filmed inside the Apollo Gallery, shows a man dressed in a construction vest and helmet smashing open a glass display case with a power tool. Around him, visitors were seen walking, unaware that a robbery was unfolding right beside them.

The heist took place on Sunday, October 19, at around 9:30 am, shortly after the museum opened for the public.

The robbers used a crane to reach and smash an upstairs window of the museum's Galerie d'Apollon, the section that displays France's royal jewels, according to the BBC.

Les

images du cambriolage du Louvre (document BFMTV) pic.twitter.com/FciPpaXTMA

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) October 19, 2025

Once inside, they broke open glass cases and stole several priceless items, including historic diamond and emerald jewellery linked to Napoleon's era.

What all did they steal?

The thieves targeted a total of nine items, eight of which were stolen. The burglars lost the ninth one, the Empress Eugenie's crown, which belonged to Napoleon III's wife, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated.

The collection contains items owned by Emperor Napoleon, his nephew Napoleon III, and his wives, the empresses Marie-Louise and Eugenie, according to ABC News.

The stolen items include the diamond brooch of Empress Eugenie, famously worn during Queen Victoria's visit to Paris in 1855, as well as a necklace and earrings from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense.

Among the other missing pieces are the emerald necklace and earrings from the Marie-Louise set, a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to his wife Marie-Louise on the occasion of their marriage in 1810. A Reliquary Brooch and a tiara belonging to Empress Eugenie were also taken.

However, one of the most iconic pieces, the crown of Empress Eugenie, crafted from gold, emeralds, and more than 1,300 diamonds, was dropped by the thieves during their escape. The damaged crown, which is worth several tens of millions of euros, was later recovered outside the museum.

Authorities are puzzled over why the Regent Diamond, one of the world's most valuable gems, was not stolen during the heist. The Regent Diamond is currently estimated at over $60 million by Sotheby's.

"I don't have an explanation. It will only be when they're in custody and face investigators that we'll know what type of order they had and why they didn't target that window," said Beccuau.

Similar incidents in the past

France has seen several high-value museum thefts recently. Last month, thieves broke into the Adrien Dubouche Museum in Limoges and stole valuable porcelain artworks worth about 9.5 million euros.

In November 2024, seven items of ‘great historic and heritage value’ were stolen from the Cognacq-Jay Museum in the capital. Five of these items were recovered a few days later.