Crooks who robbed Kim Kardashian will struggle to sell their loot as her jewellery is TOO famous
- Robbers made off with a ring worth $4.5 million (£3.5 million)
- Also took a case of jewellery with a value of $5.6 million (£4.3 million)
- Expert says value of the haul would 'crash' due to recognisability
- 'Everyone knows that ring. It won't be easy to get rid of it,' police said
- Precious stones often come stamped with a laser mark
- A shady jeweller might cut down Kim's gems into less conspicuous stones
Pulling off a $10 million dollar jewel heist is one thing - but finding a buyer is another, say experts, predicting that the robbers who targeted Kim Kardashian in Paris will struggle to dispose of their loot.
Kardashian, the world's highest paid reality television star, was held up at gunpoint in a luxury Paris apartment in the early hours of Monday.
The robbers made off with a ring worth four million euros ($4.5 million/£3.5 million) and a case of jewellery with a value of five million euros ($5.6 million/£4.3 million).
Sandrine Marcot, acting president of the French union of jewellers and watchmakers, said the value of the haul would 'crash' due to the media hype around the heist and the recognisability of the stolen goods.
The robbers who targeted Kim Kardashian, pictured here leaving Ferdi restaurant in Paris with her giant ring on September 29, will struggled to sell their loot, experts say
'Everyone knows that ring. It won't be easy to get rid of it,' a police source said.
Last week, Kardashian had posted a Twitter photograph of her left hand sporting a huge diamond sparkler - reportedly a 20-carat ring by Lorraine Schwartz given to her by her husband, rap superstar Kanye West.
'These are not everyday jewels. These are unique pieces,' Marcot told AFP, predicting the spoils of the raid would be cut into smaller gems to conceal their origin.
Precious stones often come stamped with a laser mark, making them 'extremely easy to trace', Marcot said.
Some laser marks are so deep they are impossible to cover up but others can be concealed by savvy polishing, making the stone 'difficulty to identify, unlike, for example, a stolen painting,' the police source said.
Kim's 20-carat ring by Lorraine Schwartz was given to her by her husband, Kanye West, and is believed to be one of the items robbers stole
The Lorraine Schwartz ring is the second one gifted to Kim by Kanye - after he originally proposed with a similar rock in 2013
Is this the £3.5million ring stolen from Kim Kardashian by Paris crooks? Kim flaunted her second engagement ring given to her by Kanye in a Snapchat video posted just two hours before she was robbed at gunpoint
In most cases, the robbers work with several intermediaries, including a shady jeweller in charge of whittling down the gem into less conspicuous stones.
But a gem that has been recut is worth only a fraction of its initial value.
Kardashian's ring could lose three-quarters of its value after being reworked, according to police.
And yet despite the difficulty in disposing of eye-popping jewels, they still exert a powerful pull on thieves, with Monday's robbery the latest in a string of brazen heists around France in recent years.
'You will always have customers who want stones or to melt down the metal,' the police expert explained.
Police stand guard outside a luxury apartment building in Paris, on October 3, 2016, where US reality television star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint
Among the pieces Kim had with her in Paris were these necklaces from her husband Kanye's upcoming collection with Jacob Arabo, who sells his pieces to the rich and famous for thousands of pounds
Kim was wearing the ring on Sunday night as she and sister Kourtney Kardashian arrived at the Alaia showroom just hours before she was robbed
She was also wearing grillz by Dolly Cohen in one of her Snapchat stories in Paris, which can cost upwards of 200 euros (£174.82)
Just stealing precious gems and rendering them unrecognisable does not make for the perfect crime, however.
Robbers also need to have connections in the jewellery business to get a good price for their spoils.
The gang that walked into the exclusive Harry Winston store in Paris in 2008 disguised as women, walking away with loot worth up to 85 million euros, failed miserably at the final hurdle.
Knowing nothing about jewellery, the leader of the gang from the Paris suburbs entrusted the sale to a friend.
His friend's gem trading acumen proved rudimentary. In four deals, he managed to amass only 483,000 euros.
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