The crown of French Empress Eugenie was left crushed after being dropped by fleeing thieves during the raid at the Louvre last October – but is “nearly intact” and can be fully restored, the museum has said.
Raiders stole an estimated 88 million euros (£76m, $104m) in jewels, but left the diamond-studded headpiece belonging to the wife of Napoleon III on their escape route.
The museum has issued the first photographs of the crown since the theft, saying it had been left “badly deformed” after the thieves tried to remove it through a narrow hole they sawed in its glass display case.
The crown is missing one of eight golden eagles that adorned it but retains its 56 emeralds and all but 10 of its 1,354 diamonds.