On October 19th, the most visited museum in the world was broken into. Eight historic French Crown Jewels were stolen and, naturally, the internet went wild. But despite widespread claims of the criminals’ stupidity, there was actually a lot of interesting strategy that went into their decisions! Let’s unpack the secret genius of the 2025 Louvre heist.
- Visible is the new invisible
Unlike pretty much every classic heist movie ever, the criminals didn’t dress in all-black, or even in outfits that matched the surrounding tourists. Instead, they went with bright yellow and orange construction vests and hats. While this is more eye-catching on the surface level, they were playing into the mundanity of construction workers and using the bright colors to fit in. And it worked! No one thought to question the burglars when they mounted a bulky furniture lift and climbed into a first-floor balcony outside of the Louvre.Â
- Location, location, location
One of the smartest choices the criminals made was the specific gallery they chose. Guards are mainly deployed around the main entrance, because that’s where the majority of offenses take place. Their target, the Galerie d’Apollon, was left relatively unmonitored as an area further from the main thoroughfare, and had no surveillance covering its exterior. This room was also the right fit because the jewelry cases were intentionally smashable, so that the items could be saved in a fire. The time of day was also important; the break-in was at 9:30 A.M., when the Louvre was open to the public and full of tourists. This ensured that security would have to focus more on the safety of the visitors than capturing the thieves. Â
- To melt or not to melt, that is the question
The criminals went for items that they could break down and melt! The jewelry that was stolen could be disassembled and sold at face value, making the criminals millions of dollars and less trackable. If they had gone for something like a painting, which might have been more valuable, it would’ve only retained value in its full, obvious form. In fact, when the Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911 it was recovered intact, while the stolen jewels from this heist are still missing – probably because they’re now unrecognizable.Â
A crime like this is certainly devastating, these are really special artifacts from French history that are lost to the greed of some mysterious buyer. That doesn’t mean the people who successfully burgled these insanely precious jewels aren’t a little brilliant, though. I think the real takeaway, if Ocean’s 11 taught us anything, is that strategy (and a good outfit) can get you anywhere.