On October 19 the Louvre was broken into and robbed of some crown jewels in less than 8 minutes. This heist has spread over social media as the kind of thing that only happens in movies. 

The Louvre, a museum filled with jewels, statues and art of high value has had issues with theft and over working employees in the past. Including multiple incidents with the Mona Lisa such as its theft in 1911 by Vincezzo Peruggia. 

The theft on October 19th was pulled off by the thieves dressing at construction workers to pass by. They had stolen a lift to use days before. At 9:30 just 30 minutes after opening they used the lift to get to the Apollo rooms where they broke the window to enter. Once inside they used a saw and cutter to break into the cases to grab some jewels. They then got out and to scooters that they had waiting for them. They were in and out by 9:38. The jewels they stole are valued at 102 million USD.

 AP news reports “Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; Empress Eugénie’s diadem; and her large corsage-bow brooch — a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.” 

They lost empress Eugenie’s crown. The crown contained more than 2,000 emeralds and 56 diamonds. The crown was recovered but damaged. 

This robbery was able to happen due to lack of outside cameras, overworked and understaffed employees and multitudes of tourists in every room. Setting the thieves up to a distracted museum. 

Currently, 3 of the 4 believed thieves have been arrested along with two people believed to have helped them get away on the scooters. 

The jewels have yet to be recovered but as time goes on the chance of recovery becomes less likely. When recognizable jewelry is stolen it gets cut and sold. This is a possible fate for these jewels and time goes on.  

This heist being so bold caught a lot of media attention but another aspect that has gotten a lot of buzz is a man dressed in 1940s clothing and a fedora being captured by the scene alongside some Paris police. He has been named the Fedora man and had a lot of theories made of his identity. He has been unveiled to be 15 year old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux. His snappy attire is just him enjoying dressing nice. Him and some of his family were on their way to the museum when they found it to be closed from the heist. 

Paris officials are doing all they can to find these pieces, the museum seems security is being upped, and the suspects are being questioned. As on November 16th though, there is more progress on finding the jewels.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/10/fedora-man-louvre-photo-pedro-elias-garzon-delvaux 

https://apnews.com/article/louvre-heist-jewels-paris-timeline-a072c2a5aba6ab5eeb429a280266a799 

https://apnews.com/article/france-louvre-museum-robbery-a3687f330a43e0aaff68c732c4b2585b

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/world/europe/louvre-museum-robbery-suspects-investigation.html