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French authorities are urgently trying to locate irreplaceable gemstones robbed from the Paris museum in a audacious daylight robbery, although specialists have warned it could be past the point of recovery to save them.

Within the French capital on Sunday, burglars entered by force the world's most-visited museum, stealing eight cherished pieces then fleeing on scooters in a bold robbery that was completed in eight minutes.

Expert art detective Arthur Brand expressed his view he believes the artifacts are likely "already dismantled", once separated into hundreds of parts.

Experts suggest the stolen jewels will be sold for a fraction of their worth and smuggled out of France, several authorities have said.

Who May Be Behind the Robbery

The thieves are experienced criminals, Mr Brand believes, shown by the speed with which they got through the museum of the museum in record time.

"Realistically speaking, as a normal person, you don't wake up overnight thinking, I'm going to become a burglar, and begin with the world-famous museum," he said.

"This isn't the first time they've done this," he continued. "They've committed things before. They're self-assured and they calculated, we might get away with this attempt, and took the chance."

As further evidence the skill of the thieves is being taken seriously, a specialist police unit with a "proven effectiveness in solving major theft cases" has been tasked with tracking them down.

Police officials have said they believe the theft is linked to an organised crime network.

Organised crime groups of this type usually pursue two primary purposes, legal official Laure Beccuau explained. "Either to act for the benefit of a financier, or to obtain expensive jewelry to perform money laundering operations."

Mr Brand thinks it seems highly unlikely to dispose of the artifacts as complete pieces, and he said commissioned theft for a private collector is a scenario that only happens in fictional stories.

"No one desires to acquire an artifact so identifiable," he stated. "You cannot show it to your friends, you can't bequeath it to family, you cannot sell it."

Estimated £10m Price Tag

The expert thinks the artifacts are likely broken down and disassembled, along with gold elements and silver components melted and the jewels re-cut into smaller components that will be nearly impossible to connect to the Paris heist.

Gemstone expert an authority in the field, host of the digital series If Jewels Could Talk and formerly worked as the famous fashion magazine's gemstone expert for two decades, explained the perpetrators had "carefully selected" the most valuable jewels from the institution's artifacts.

The "impressively sized exquisite jewels" will probably be dug out from their settings and sold, she said, excluding the headpiece of Empress Eugénie which features less valuable pieces set in it and proved to be "too hot to keep," she explained.

This might account for why they left it behind while fleeing, together with a second artifact, and recovered by police.

Empress Eugenie's tiara that disappeared, contains extremely rare authentic pearls which are incredibly valuable, authorities indicate.

While the items are regarded as being priceless, Ms Woolton anticipates they to be sold for a fraction of their worth.

"They'll likely end up to buyers who are able to take possession," she said. "Many people will seek for these – they'll settle for any amount available."

How much exactly might they bring as payment upon being marketed? Concerning the estimated price of the haul, the detective stated the cut-up parts may amount to "many millions."

The jewels and gold stolen may bring as much as a significant sum (over eleven million euros; $13.4m), says a jewelry specialist, managing director of an established company, an online jeweller.

He told the BBC the gang must have a trained specialist to remove the gems, and a professional diamond cutter to alter the more noticeable pieces.

Less noticeable gems that couldn't be easily recognized might be marketed right away and while it was hard to determine the exact price of every gem taken, the larger ones may amount to about half a million pounds for individual pieces, he noted.

"We know there are a minimum of four that large, thus totaling all those pieces along with the gold components, you are probably approaching ten million," he said.

"The gemstone and gemstone market is liquid and plenty of customers operate on the fringes that avoid questioning too many questions."

Some optimism remains that the stolen goods could reappear undamaged eventually – yet this possibility are fading as the days pass.

Similar cases have occurred – a historical showcase at the V&A Museum includes an artifact stolen in 1948 that later resurfaced in a sale many years after.

Definitely is many in France feel profoundly disturbed about the museum robbery, having felt an emotional attachment with the artifacts.

"We don't necessarily value gems because it's a question of power, and which doesn't always receive favorable interpretation among French people," Alexandre Leger, curatorial leader at Parisian jewelry house Maison Vever, explained