Louvre crown dropped by thieves can be restored—museum director

The director of the Louvre said a diamond- and emerald-studded crown dropped by thieves this weekend as they fled the museum with imperial jewels could be restored.

The 19th-century crown once belonging to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the museum's website.

"Initial assessments suggest that a delicate restoration is possible," Laurence des Cars said.

Des Cars said it had likely been damaged not by the fall but by the robbers trying to extract it from too small an opening in its display case.

It was "crushed when being taken out of the display case," she said.

After a 2014 study, new ultra-resistant "high-end jewelry showcases" were ordered to house the crown jewels in the Apollo Gallery, des Cars said.

"The glass was not broken. It was split and the thieves managed to pass their hands through, but the glass held firm," she added.

The thieves fled with eight other items, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie Louise.