Crown unveiled three months after October theft
Restoration expected by year-end, cost estimated at 69 million won
A photograph of Empress Eugenie's crown, which was stolen last October and severely damaged, has been released.
On the 7th (local time), the Louvre Museum released, for the first time in three months since the theft, a photograph of the damaged crown. The palm-shaped arched ornaments set with diamonds on the crown were torn off or bent, and the jewel-encrusted cross was leaning to one side. One of the gold eagle ornaments had disappeared.
Empress Eugenie's crown, belonging to the wife of 19th-century French Emperor Napoleon III, is adorned with eight gold eagles and lavishly decorated with 56 emeralds and 1,354 diamonds. Napoleon III commissioned it so that he and the empress could wear it at the opening ceremony of the 1855 Paris Exposition Universelle. It is regarded as an artifact that vividly showcases the splendor of the Second French Empire and the excellence of French jewelry craftsmanship of the time.
Empress Eugenie's crown before it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in October 2025 (left), and its recently revealed damaged appearance after the theft. Photo by AFP/Yonhap
This crown is one of nine pieces of royal jewelry that thieves stole during a daring robbery at the Louvre Museum last year. Because the thieves only managed to cut a narrow opening in the security glass display case where the crown was exhibited, using a cutter, the crown was damaged as they pulled it out of the case, and it suffered additional damage when it fell during their escape. The crown was later found beneath the Louvre Museum's Apollo Gallery and recovered by the museum. Investigators also located and retrieved nine out of the ten diamonds that had fallen off.
The Louvre Museum has also appointed a committee of experts, led by museum director Laurence des Cars, to oversee and supervise the restoration of the crown. The committee has been instructed to seek advice from five renowned French jewelry houses, including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Chaumet.
The Louvre Museum plans to soon ask restoration experts to repair the crown. Olivier Gabet, Director of the Department of Decorative Arts at the Louvre Museum, said, "We do not yet know how much the restoration will cost, but we are initially estimating 40,000 euros (about 69 million won)," adding, "Since almost all of the components have been found, the actual cost will depend on the time required for the highly precise repair work."
Gabet stressed, "The other stolen items are probably somewhere along with it and may be found someday," and added, "This crown will be restored by the end of the year and will be released to the public at the Louvre."
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