Overview
- The museum says the crown was crushed as thieves pulled it through a narrow cut in its display case and then broke after a violent impact during their escape.
- Nearly all components survive, with one of eight golden eagles and 10 of 1,354 diamonds missing, while all 56 emeralds remain intact.
- A committee chaired by Laurence des Cars will oversee the restoration and choose outside restorers, and the Louvre has released images documenting the damage.
- The piece, made for Eugénie de Montijo in the Second Empire, was dropped and left behind during the October 19 heist that targeted Napoleonic jewels worth about €88 million.
- Two perpetrators and two accomplices are in pretrial detention, eight other stolen pieces are still missing, and experts suspect gems were removed and the gold melted.