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French authorities are desperate to retrieve priceless gemstones robbed from the Louvre Museum in a brazen broad daylight theft, but experts have warned it may already be too late to get them back.

Within the French capital over the weekend, burglars gained access to the most popular museum globally, making off with eight valued items and getting away via motor scooters in a audacious theft that lasted approximately eight minutes.

Expert art detective a renowned specialist told the BBC he feared the stolen items may already be "long gone", having been broken up into many fragments.

It is highly likely the stolen jewels will be sold for a mere percentage of their value and taken out of French territory, additional specialists have said.

Possible Culprits Behind the Theft

The thieves are experienced criminals, according to the expert, as demonstrated by the speed with which they got inside and outside of the Louvre so quickly.

"Realistically speaking, for regular people, people don't suddenly decide in the morning believing, I should become a burglar, choosing as first target the world-famous museum," he noted.

"This likely isn't their initial robbery," he added. "They've committed things before. They are confident and they believed, it might work out with this, and proceeded."

In another sign the professionalism of the group is treated as important, an elite police team with a "strong track record in cracking major theft cases" has been assigned with finding them.

Police officials have indicated they think the heist is linked to a sophisticated gang.

Criminal organizations such as these generally have two primary purposes, French prosecutor a senior official explained. "Either they operate for the benefit of a financier, or to secure precious stones to conduct illegal financial activities."

The detective suggests it is extremely difficult to sell the items intact, and he explained stealing-to-order for an individual buyer represents a situation that mainly exists in movies.

"Nobody wants to touch an artifact so identifiable," he explained. "You can't display it publicly, you can't bequeath it to heirs, you cannot sell it."

Estimated £10m Value

The detective suggests the objects will be dismantled and disassembled, along with gold elements and precious metals liquefied and the jewels cut up into smaller components that could be nearly impossible to connect to the Louvre robbery.

Historical jewelry specialist Carol Woolton, creator of the audio program about historical jewelry and was Vogue magazine's gemstone expert for two decades, explained the thieves had "specifically chosen" the most important jewels from the museum's holdings.

The "impressively sized perfect gems" would likely be removed of their mountings and marketed, she said, with the exception of the headpiece of the French empress which has smaller stones set in it and was considered "too dangerous to keep," she explained.

This could explain the reason it was abandoned during the escape, in addition to a second artifact, and recovered by police.

The imperial headpiece that was taken, contains extremely rare organic pearls which have a very large value, specialists confirm.

Although the artifacts have been described as having immeasurable worth, the historian expects them could be marketed for a fraction of their worth.

"They're destined to buyers who is willing to handle these," she said. "Authorities worldwide will search for these items – they will take what they can get."

How much exactly would they generate financially when disposed of? Regarding the potential value of the stolen goods, the detective stated the cut-up parts might value "many millions."

The precious stones and gold stolen might achieve as much as £10 million (€11.52m; $13.4m), according to an industry expert, senior official of 77 Diamonds, a digital jewelry retailer.

The expert explained the gang would need a skilled expert to extract the stones, and a professional diamond cutter to modify the bigger identifiable gems.

Minor components that couldn't be easily recognized would be disposed of immediately and while it was hard to estimate the precise value of all the stones removed, the more significant gems might value approximately a significant amount each, he said.

"Reports indicate at least four of that size, therefore combining all of those together with the gold, you are probably approaching £10m," he said.

"The gemstone and gemstone market is active and numerous purchasers exist within gray markets that avoid questioning about origins."

There are hopes that the items may be found in original condition one day – although such expectations are narrowing with each passing day.

Similar cases have occurred – a jewelry display at the cultural institution displays a piece of jewelry taken decades ago which eventually returned in a sale much later.

What is certain includes the French public are extremely upset about the museum robbery, expressing a cultural bond to the jewels.

"We don't necessarily like jewellery since it represents a matter concerning privilege, and which doesn't always receive favorable interpretation in France," a jewelry authority, curatorial leader at French jeweller Maison Vever, said