We are in the "telling the public what evidence they have will alert the perps" phase, only wild media speculation until the investigators are done doing their thing.

I look forward to Internet Historian doing one of his stock image gilliamation videos about this.

I love how my brain immediately pictured a jewel encrusted royal chastity belt despite nothing in your comment saying anything to suggest that

You're assuming they don't have a customer yet.

Just give them to some local children to play with.

As an aside, am I the only one who always thought Alfred was kinda a piece of shit for that story? Like a lot of Batman stuff hasn't aged well, but even when I first watched that movie, going scorched earth for a jewel thief was fucked up.

Some people want to watch the world burn. Alfred actually did set their world on fire and watched it burn.

Melt it down, problem solved

I saw the top piece in another article, and I heard about all the sapphires. This is my first time seeing them, and they are unbelievable. It looks like they're the right works.

There was also a crown that got dropped in the street and took some damage. At least it was recovered.

I once read a book by a retired jewel thief whose statutes of limitations has all run out, and he said that that the first thing he did was break down the jewelry, sort the stones, and melt down the settings. Then he'd fence them ASAP. Always. So all that jewelry he stole, all that sentimental value, is gone forever.

These works are priceless not only for their craftsmanship and beauty, but their historic significance as well. They were literally created to be fit for a King, or Queen.

Unfortunately, the intrinsic value of those old, perfect stones on today's market, far outweighs their historic or artistic value. There is likely some Sociopathic Oligarchs who think those stones would look better in modern settings, and be better served by being worn around, and not just put on display in some museum where nobody goes.

That's a lot of loose stones, some of them very large, and some small. There are enough to make many, many pieces of jewelry. Perhaps there will be a bit of a black market among jewelers who cater to the very wealthy, to sell works that includes a Louvre stone or two.

I'll keep an eye out for them.

"Why do you think these are the stolen items?"
"Well, for one, I just took these pictures in my cellar of stolen jewels..."

How you gonna air tag an earring?

Maybe not so unusual. I was at a museum in Germany on vacation a few months before I saw in the news there was a jewel heist there

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Green_Vault_burglary

Maybe they're hoping that, by posting the wrong figure, they'll compel the thieves to correct them, thereby revealing themselves.

They'll be broken down, metal smelted, gems recut if necessary. They're gone, who cares. It's not like they were the actual crown jewels, just a few baubles.

Float a line to the Saudi Royal family Jared Kushner, they’d buy them no shame at all

On jobs like these, they already have a buyer.

They think they'll dismantle and melt them and try to fence the stones (stones, especially famous ones are pretty worthless). They should get about 200 k€ for the lot if they're lucky. At least according to art specialists debating on news channels.

When the French Blue was stolen after the revolution, it was recut and probably became the Hope Diamond.

If they can't find a buyer, they'll melt it down and recut any gems that are too recognizable. Easy money, if you know the right people.