British art appraiser Curtis Dowling claimed he was contacted by two people on Sunday asking him to authenticate “some important French jewellery”. he told art news He believed they wanted him to appraise the loot, which included items that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie and had been stolen from the Louvre just hours before he received the call.
According to reports, French officials said the jewels, worth $102 million, were believed to have been taken out by three masked men using small chainsaws to pry open the museum’s windows in broad daylight.
“Stolen!!! Then the phone rang. 1 hour ago today, October 19, 2025! Update! Second call from Russia just asking about the same thing,” Dowling posted on LinkedIn. “Can I authenticate some important French jewelry? It’s urgent. I was asked what the usual fee is? I told the guy on the phone. We will pay you in cash, 500 times the amount he said. I smell trouble.”
Dowling aired the US TV series Treasure Detectives on CNBC prime time and claimed to be an authenticator 37 Having never made a mistake in years, he added: “Someone had something important stolen from the Louvre and they were trying to ring it up (for a quick sale) and this guy who sounded like he was from the Middle East didn’t want to buy a cheap copy from the thief, so he got my number and became the number one authenticator in the world, assuming I could be bribed (which I couldn’t)… because when you buy stolen goods, you can’t call the police if you’ve been scammed.”
He said the two men “described very similar scenes” so “assuming we are referring to [jewels stolen from the Louvre]”.
Asked if he wanted to collude with the callers to find out who they were, he responded that he had learned “it was better to obey the law and not anger any organized crime group.” He said he “hanged up” on the caller.
“I politely decline[d] Get involved. Look…I’m not doing this to get rich, and secondly, if I’m involved, I’d rather avoid being buried in a shallow Saudi grave…” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Dowling admits art news Calling his art appraisal techniques “unethical” also confirms that he has no formal training or qualifications: “Everyone in this world is given a gift. No one is left out. Thank God I know something is a fake and then go to great pains to prove it.”
