The Louvre has announced it will fully restore the crown of Empress Eugenie, the 170-year-old piece abandoned by thieves during last October’s brazen jewellery heist. Although robbers escaped with about €88 million in jewels, they dropped the crown as they fled.
Museum conservators say the crown was left ‘badly deformed’ but is otherwise nearly intact and can be repaired without full reconstruction. Commissioned as part of a pair by Napoleon III in 1855, the crown was never used in a formal coronation. The Louvre reports that all 56 emeralds remain in place; only 10 very small diamonds are missing from the original 1,354, and just one of the eight gilt eagles that ornament the rim is gone.
The restoration will be carried out by an accredited restorer selected through a competitive call under the French Heritage Code. A newly formed advisory committee of museum officials and jewellery specialists will oversee the work. The Louvre said it will invite one representative each from five historic jewellery houses — Mellerio, Chaumet, Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels — to join the committee.
October’s unprecedented theft prompted a broad review of the museum’s security. French authorities have arrested four alleged members of the crew; the suspected mastermind is reported to remain at large. Eight items from France’s crown jewels were taken in the raid, including an emerald necklace that belonged to Marie-Louise, three pieces from a sapphire set, and a separate diadem of Eugenie set with pearls. None of those stolen pieces has been recovered.
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez