Lempertz: ‘Louvre jewels unsellable, only experts could cut them’

Frankfurt (Germany), 23 October (LaPresse) – “The theft of the crown jewels from the Louvre represents above all an inestimable loss for France and its cultural identity. On the international market, such famous items are practically unsellable: dealers and auction houses would immediately recognise them as stolen goods.” This was stated to LaPresse by Jan Bykowski, spokesperson for Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne, one of the oldest auction houses in the world, commenting on the theft at the Louvre museum in Paris. “In order to try to resell them, it would be necessary to transform the traditional cut of the gems into a modern brilliant cut, an operation that can only be carried out by highly qualified experts – found, for example, in Idar-Oberstein, Antwerp or India – but even they would immediately recognise the stones as coming from the Louvre,” added Bykowski. “The gold can be melted down, but the diamonds are practically unsellable.”