When it comes to Kim Kardashian's robbery, there are many questions. Unfortunately, not many have been answered — probably because it remains an open investigation. That said, you may be wondering about the chances Kim Kardashian will recover her stolen items, which were taken from her at gunpoint in Paris, France on Sunday. It's hard to say for certain if she'll get any of her stolen items returned. However, it seems more likely than not that her jewelry is gone for good.
Author and "diamond expert" Scott Andrew Selby (he wrote a 2012 novel about a real-life jewelry heist), spoke with Billboard about Kardashian's robbery and he doesn't believe she'll have her items returned. "It's highly unlikely they’ll be recovered," he said. "Thieves move quickly — when they do a job of this nature, they already know what they’ll do with these stones, they’ll already be long gone." Selby said that diamond jewelry is usually taken apart quickly, with thieves holding onto bigger stones and the smaller ones being sold faster. He even said that there are usually three choices thieves make after a robbery:
"Choice one: Stash them for a while until you figure out what to do with them. Choice two: Sell them to a buyer you line up that doesn’t care that they’re stolen; it’s very hard to find somebody like that. Step three: Have a corrupt person in the business change the stones to make them unrecognizable."
That doesn't mean police won't do their job and try to get whatever was taken from Kardashian back. As Selby said, "Of course the police will try to recover the stones, it’s just highly unlikely."
In the robbery, Kardashian had over $10 million worth of jewelry stolen. According to E! News, the thieves took one of her rings worth an estimated $4.9 million and a jewelry box worth around $5.6 million. Though, E! News also reports that it is not known publicly exactly which items were stolen.
Like Selby, "ex-jewel thief-turned-crime-prevention advocate Larry Lawton" spoke with USA Today Wednesday and doesn't believe Kardashian will ever see her jewelry again. "They’re gone," he said. "Within a few days, they're gone. They're fenced. You're looking at [a specialized and organized] distribution network, that's how you get rid of high-dollar things. You don't go to a guy on the corner and say, 'Hey, I got this ring from my grandma.'"
Despite it not looking like anything will be returned to Kardashian, jewelry appraiser Joseph DuMouchelle told Entertainment Tonight that Kardashian's jewelry might not even sell. "These diamonds would be almost impossible to sell," he said. "It's not that they couldn't be sold, but they're challenging because of the size, the rarity, and because of the quality."
If they are sold, DuMouchelle said that thieves will probably recut the stones (which also decreases the value), because Kardashian's jewelry is so recognizable. "If these come up and they resurface down the road, even if they're recut, there's always a good chance that someone would recognize the fact that they're so unusual that they should be investigated," he explained. If that were to happen, then, yeah, she might happen to see her jewelry again, but it also probably wouldn't be returned in the same condition as it was when it was stolen.
Based on these sources, it sure looks like Kardashian's jewelry is long gone.
