Commissioned by Napoleon III, the royal headdress was created for Empress Eug\u00e9nie de Montijo and presented at the 1855 Paris Universal Exposition.<\/p>\n
The item belongs to a rare collection of French crown jewels still held by the nation, after most were looted during the French Revolution beginning in 1789. The majority of what remained was auctioned off by the French state in a wave of republican sentiment almost a hundred years later.<\/p>\n
Though never used for a coronation, it became a symbol of imperial power before entering the Louvre\u2019s collection in 1988.<\/p>\n
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Four palmettes (originally attached by two points at the base and one at the top) have become detached from Empress Eug\u00e9nie’s crown. – Thomas Clot\/Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/p>\n
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The crown pictured before it will be sent off to repairs. – Thomas Clot\/Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/p>\n
For decades, the crown dazzled millions of visitors<\/a> with its 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, accenting eight palmettes alternating with stately gold eagles.<\/p>\n Today, one eagle is missing, and half of the palmettes have detached \u2013 with some misshapen.<\/p>\n The once-proud diamond-and-emerald orb, a symbol of imperial might, now sinks into the crown\u2019s crumpled frame, though it remains intact.<\/p>\n Experts believe the crown\u2019s flexible mount was strained when thieves wrenched it from its display through a narrow slot cut by the angle grinder, according to a report by the Louvre.<\/p>\n \u201cThis stress caused the crown\u2019s hoops to detach, one of which has already been lost in the gallery,\u201d the museum said in the report.<\/p>\n The subsequent impact as it hit the ground likely crushed the delicate antique, it added.<\/p>\n Of the crown’s 1,354 diamonds, ten are missing. – Thomas Clot\/Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/p>\n The crown in its original condition prior to the heist. – Thomas Clot\/Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/p>\n While its shape has changed, nearly every component of the crown survives, allowing for a \u201ccomplete restoration\u201d without reconstruction or recreation, the museum added. \u201cIt will simply involve reshaping its framework.\u201d<\/p>\n It has retained all 56 of its emeralds and, of the 1,354 diamonds, only around ten small ones, from the perimeter of the base, are missing. Nine others were detached but preserved.<\/p>\n The Louvre announced it will soon invite restorers to submit proposals for the crown\u2019s repair, in a competitive bidding process overseen by a newly formed committee of experts.<\/p>\n Since the October heist, the museum said it has received offers to help restore the crown from the prestigious jewelry houses of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Mellerio, Chaumet, and Boucheron.<\/p>\n The thieves snatched an overall eight pieces<\/a> of jewelry \u2014 not including the crown \u2014 from the Louvre in the seven-minute raid back in October.<\/p>\n Among them was a tiara, necklace and single sapphire earring worn by Queen Marie-Am\u00e9lie and Queen Hortense, an emerald necklace<\/a> and emerald earrings belonging to Empress Marie-Louise, and the \u201creliquary brooch of Empress Eug\u00e9nie.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Of](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/da332505983f0aad1ed6729e946c9c33.jpeg\"\/)
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