The China Mail - Empress's crown dropped in Louvre heist to be fully restored: museum

The thieves who robbed the famed Paris museum last October made off with an estimated 88 million euros ($104 million) in jewels, but dropped the empress's diamond- and emerald-studded crown as they escaped, leaving it crushed and broken.

Investigators have yet to locate the other jewels, but recovered the dropped crown.

The Louvre said in a statement the piece had been "badly deformed", but remained "nearly intact" and would be restored to its original state, "without the need for reconstruction".

The museum said the crown was damaged when the thieves tried to remove it through a narrow hole they had sawed in the glass case where it was displayed.

The Louvre said the crown still had all its pieces, except for one of the eight golden eagles that adorned it.

It retains all 56 of its emeralds and all but 10 of its 1,354 diamonds, the museum said.

It said an expert committee led by the museum's president, Laurence des Cars, had been selected to supervise the restoration, which would be carried out by a qualified expert chosen in a competitive selection process.

Authorities have arrested all four alleged members of the heist crew, but have not found the mastermind -- or the remaining jewels.

The thieves made off with eight other items of jewellery, including a diamond-studded tiara that belonged to Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

P.Ho--ThChM