""You don't even have to put them on a black market, you just put them in a jewelry store," said Erin Thompson, an art crime professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "It could be sold down the street from the Louvre.""
""It's not like someone could publicly wear one of France's stolen Crown Jewels - 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."
""These jewels are now, of course, unsellable ... Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods," she warned. "There's still time to give them back.""
Seven people have been arrested in connection with a heist at the Louvre in Paris, but the stolen French Crown Jewels remain missing. The jewels are valued at more than $100 million (88 million euros). Thieves can melt or break the artifacts into smaller components to disguise their origin and sell the pieces as ordinary jewelry, a tactic that reduces visibility and complicates tracing. Dismantling or melting typically yields only a fraction of the original value. Moving components across borders and through jewel cutters and supply chains can make items effectively traceless. Prosecutors have warned the jewels are unsellable and urged their return to avoid charges of concealment.
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