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Police in France are making every effort to locate priceless gemstones taken from the Louvre Museum in a daring broad daylight theft, yet authorities caution it might be impossible to get them back.

Within the French capital over the weekend, burglars gained access to the top tourist attraction worldwide, taking eight precious artifacts before escaping using scooters in a audacious theft that took about under ten minutes.

Expert art detective Arthur Brand told the BBC he believes the jewels are likely "long gone", after being taken apart into numerous components.

There is a strong chance the stolen jewels may be disposed of for a mere percentage of their value and taken out of the country, additional specialists indicated.

Potential Suspects Behind the Theft

The thieves acted professionally, as the detective stated, as demonstrated by the way they managed in and out of the Louvre in record time.

"You know, for regular people, one doesn't just get up overnight believing, I should become a thief, let's start with the world-famous museum," he said.

"This likely isn't their first heist," he said. "They've committed other burglaries. They're self-assured and they calculated, we could succeed with this, and went for it."

As further evidence the professionalism of the gang is being taken seriously, a specialist police unit with a "high success rate in resolving major theft cases" has been assigned with locating the perpetrators.

Authorities have said they believe the robbery relates to a sophisticated gang.

Criminal organizations like these generally have two objectives, legal official Laure Beccuau stated. "Either to act on behalf of a financier, or to acquire expensive jewelry to carry out money laundering operations."

The expert believes it seems extremely difficult to dispose of the artifacts intact, and he said targeted robbery for a specific client is a scenario that only happens in Hollywood films.

"No one desires to handle an item so identifiable," he stated. "It cannot be shown to your friends, you can't bequeath it to your children, you cannot sell it."

Possible £10m Value

Mr Brand believes the stolen items will be taken apart and disassembled, along with gold elements and silver melted down and the precious stones re-cut into smaller stones that will be extremely difficult to trace back to the museum theft.

Jewellery historian Carol Woolton, who presents the digital series focusing on gemstones and previously served as the famous fashion magazine's gemstone expert for 20 years, explained the robbers had "carefully selected" the most important gemstones from the institution's artifacts.

The "beautiful large perfect gems" are expected to be removed from their settings and disposed of, she said, with the exception of the crown from the French empress which has smaller stones set in it and proved to be "too recognizable 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.

Empress Eugenie's tiara that disappeared, features exceptionally uncommon authentic pearls which command enormous prices, authorities indicate.

Although the artifacts are considered being beyond valuation, the expert expects them will be disposed of for a small percentage of their value.

"They're destined to individuals who is willing to take possession," she said. "Everyone will be looking for these – they'll settle for what they can get."

The precise value might they bring in money upon being marketed? When asked about the estimated price of the stolen goods, Mr Brand indicated the separated elements might value "many millions."

The precious stones and taken gold may bring up to £10 million (over eleven million euros; millions in US currency), stated by a jewelry specialist, chief executive of a prominent jeweler, a digital jewelry retailer.

He told the BBC the thieves must have an experienced professional to extract the stones, and a professional diamond cutter to change the larger recognisable stones.

Smaller stones that were harder to trace could be sold quickly and while it was hard to estimate the exact price of all the stones taken, the bigger stones may amount to around a significant amount per stone, he said.

"There are at least four comparable in size, therefore combining each of them along with the gold, it's likely coming close to £10m," he said.

"The gemstone and luxury goods trade is active and numerous purchasers exist within gray markets that avoid questioning too many questions."

Hope persists that the artifacts might resurface undamaged one day – although such expectations are diminishing with each passing day.

There is a precedent – a jewelry display at the cultural institution displays an artifact stolen in 1948 before reappearing in an auction much later.

Definitely includes the French public are deeply shocked by the Louvre heist, demonstrating a cultural bond with the artifacts.

"French people don't always like jewellery as it symbolizes an issue of authority, and which doesn't always have a good connotation in France," a jewelry authority, director of historical collections at established French company the prestigious firm, said