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Police in France are making every effort to recover priceless gemstones taken from the Louvre in a audacious daytime heist, yet authorities caution it might be too late to save them.

At the heart of Paris this past Sunday, thieves broke into the top tourist attraction worldwide, making off with eight cherished pieces before escaping on scooters in a audacious theft that took about eight minutes.

International art investigator an expert in the field stated publicly he feared the jewels may already be "already dismantled", once separated into numerous components.

Experts suggest the artifacts will be sold for a fraction of their worth and taken out of French territory, additional specialists indicated.

Possible Culprits Behind the Heist

The perpetrators acted professionally, as the detective stated, shown by the way they managed in and out of the Louvre so quickly.

"Realistically speaking, for regular people, people don't suddenly decide in the morning believing, I will become a criminal, and begin with the Louvre," he said.

"This won't be their initial robbery," he continued. "They've committed things before. They're self-assured and they calculated, we might get away with this, and proceeded."

As further evidence the expertise of the group is treated as important, an elite police team with a "high success rate in solving major theft cases" has been given responsibility with locating the perpetrators.

Police officials have stated they think the heist is linked to an organised crime network.

Organised crime groups of this type typically have two main goals, French prosecutor a senior official said. "Either to act on behalf of a sponsor, or to obtain valuable gems to conduct financial crimes."

The detective suggests it is extremely difficult to sell the items intact, and he noted targeted robbery for a specific client represents a situation that only happens in Hollywood films.

"No one desires to handle a piece this recognizable," he explained. "You cannot show it to your friends, you can't bequeath it to family, there's no market for it."

Possible £10m Price Tag

Mr Brand believes the stolen items will be dismantled and separated, along with gold elements and silver melted down and the gems re-cut into smaller stones that could be extremely difficult to connect to the museum theft.

Jewellery historian Carol Woolton, host of the audio program about historical jewelry and was the prestigious publication's jewellery editor for 20 years, told the BBC the perpetrators had "specifically chosen" the most valuable treasures from the Louvre's collection.

The "magnificent exquisite jewels" are expected to be removed from the jewelry pieces and marketed, she noted, excluding the crown from Empress Eugénie which contains smaller gems incorporated within it and proved to be "too hot to handle," she explained.

This potentially clarifies why it was dropped during the escape, along with one other item, and found by authorities.

The imperial headpiece that was taken, contains extremely rare organic pearls which have a very large value, experts say.

Although the artifacts have been described as being beyond valuation, the expert believes they will be disposed of for a small percentage of their value.

"They're destined to someone who are prepared to take possession," she stated. "Many people will seek for these items – the thieves will accept any amount available."

What specific amount could they fetch financially upon being marketed? Regarding the possible worth of the stolen goods, the expert indicated the cut-up parts might value "many millions."

The gems and removed precious metal may bring as much as ten million pounds (€11.52m; thirteen million dollars), stated by an industry expert, managing director of a prominent jeweler, a digital jewelry retailer.

He told the BBC the perpetrators will require a trained specialist to extract the stones, and a skilled stone worker to alter the larger recognisable stones.

Smaller stones that couldn't be easily recognized would be disposed of quickly and although difficult to estimate the precise value of each piece removed, the larger ones might value approximately half a million pounds each, he explained.

"Reports indicate no fewer than four of that size, so adding all of those together with the gold, it's likely reaching ten million," he said.

"The jewelry and luxury goods trade is active and plenty of customers operate in less regulated areas that avoid questioning too many questions."

Some optimism remains that the artifacts could reappear undamaged eventually – yet this possibility are diminishing over time.

There is a precedent – a historical showcase at the London museum includes a piece of jewelry previously stolen that later resurfaced in an auction many years after.

Definitely includes the French public are extremely upset about the museum robbery, having felt a cultural bond toward the treasures.

"French people don't always like jewellery as it symbolizes an issue of power, and this isn't typically carry positive associations in France," a heritage expert, director of historical collections at established French company the prestigious firm, said