Where the jewels stolen from the Louvre Museum might end up

"Thompson and others say that this has become increasingly common with stolen jeweled and metal goods, noting that it's a way thieves can try to cover their tracks and make money. It's not like someone could publicly wear one of France's Crown Jewels stolen on Sunday - and finding a market to sell the full artifacts would be incredibly difficult after "everyone and their sister" has seen photos of them over the last week, said Christopher Marinello, a lawyer and founder of Art Recovery International."

"The jewels may be hard to monetize "By breaking them apart, they will hide their theft," Marinello said, adding that these items could become even more "traceless" if they're taken out of France and through jewel cutters and robust supply chains in other countries. Still, such pieces are often sold for a fraction of the value of what was stolen - due to their smaller size, but also because melting or breaking down high-profile items removes the historical worth. It isn't a simple process."

Stolen royal jewels from the Louvre face rapid alteration to obscure provenance, including melting or breaking into smaller pieces for resale. Experts warn fragments can be recrafted into ordinary necklaces or earrings and sold through legitimate jewelry stores, making detection and recovery difficult. Moving stones through international cutters and supply chains can further erase identifying traces. Breaking or melting reduces both intrinsic and historical value, so stolen items often fetch only a fraction of their worth. High public visibility of the originals limits markets for intact pieces, and monetizing high-profile artifacts is often more challenging than the theft itself.

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