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Police in France are desperate to locate irreplaceable gemstones robbed from the Louvre Museum in a brazen daytime heist, although specialists are concerned it might be too late to recover them.

At the heart of Paris over the weekend, thieves gained access to the top tourist attraction worldwide, taking eight cherished pieces before escaping using scooters in a bold robbery that lasted approximately eight minutes.

Dutch art detective a renowned specialist told the BBC he feared the stolen items could be "dispersed", having been broken up into numerous components.

There is a strong chance the artifacts may be disposed of for a small part of their true price and smuggled out of French territory, additional specialists have said.

Potential Suspects Behind the Heist

The group are experienced criminals, Mr Brand believes, evidenced by the fact they were inside and outside of the Louvre with such efficiency.

"As you might expect, as a normal person, you don't wake up overnight thinking, I should become a burglar, and begin with the Louvre Museum," he noted.

"This likely isn't the first time they've done this," he continued. "They've committed other burglaries. They feel certain and they calculated, we might get away with this attempt, and proceeded."

In another sign the expertise of the group is treated as important, a specialist police unit with a "high success rate in cracking major theft cases" has been given responsibility with tracking them down.

Law enforcement have indicated they think the heist relates to an organised crime network.

Criminal organizations like these usually pursue two primary purposes, legal official the prosecutor stated. "Either they operate on behalf of a client, or to obtain valuable gems to conduct money laundering operations."

The expert believes it would be extremely difficult to market the jewels intact, and he noted targeted robbery for a private collector is a scenario that typically occurs in movies.

"No one desires to acquire an artifact so hot," he stated. "You cannot show it to your friends, it cannot be passed to your children, it cannot be sold."

Possible £10m Price Tag

The expert thinks the objects will be dismantled and broken up, with the gold and silver melted down and the jewels divided into smaller stones that will be extremely difficult to trace back to the museum theft.

Gemstone expert Carol Woolton, creator of the digital series If Jewels Could Talk and was the famous fashion magazine's jewellery editor for 20 years, stated the perpetrators had "specifically chosen" the most valuable gemstones from the museum's holdings.

The "beautiful large exquisite jewels" will probably be dug out from the jewelry pieces and marketed, she explained, excluding the headpiece of the historical figure which has smaller stones mounted in it and was considered "too hot to possess," she explained.

This could explain the reason it was abandoned as they got away, together with one other item, and recovered by police.

The imperial headpiece which was stolen, has rare natural pearls which have a very large value, specialists confirm.

Even though the pieces are considered having immeasurable worth, the expert expects them will be disposed of for a fraction of their worth.

"They'll likely end up to someone who are prepared to handle these," she stated. "Many people will seek for these items – they'll settle for any amount available."

How much exactly might they bring financially when disposed of? Concerning the possible worth of the haul, the expert indicated the dismantled components could be worth "several million."

The precious stones and taken gold could fetch approximately a significant sum (over eleven million euros; millions in US currency), according to Tobias Kormind, senior official of a prominent jeweler, an online jeweller.

The expert explained the thieves will require a trained specialist to extract the stones, and a professional diamond cutter to change the more noticeable pieces.

Smaller stones that couldn't be easily recognized would be disposed of quickly and while it was hard to tell the exact price of every gem stolen, the more significant gems might value about a significant amount for individual pieces, he noted.

"Reports indicate a minimum of four that large, thus totaling all those pieces up plus the gold components, you are probably approaching the estimated figure," he concluded.

"The jewelry and precious stone industry is liquid and plenty of customers operate in less regulated areas that won't inquire about origins."

Hope persists that the items could reappear intact in the future – yet this possibility are diminishing as the days pass.

Similar cases have occurred – a historical showcase at the London museum includes an item of jewellery previously stolen before reappearing in a public event many years after.

Definitely are numerous French citizens are extremely upset by the Louvre heist, having felt an emotional attachment toward the treasures.

"We don't necessarily appreciate jewelry because it's a question of privilege, and this isn't typically carry positive associations among French people," Alexandre Leger, head of heritage at established French company the historical business, said