The necklace containing around 300 carats of diamonds was bought by an unidentified woman who put in her bid over the phone, Sotheby's said.

The may contain diamonds involved in a scandal surrounding Marie-Antoinette, that would eventually trigger the French Revolution.

A mysterious diamond-laden necklace with possible links to a scandal that contributed to the downfall of Marie Antoinette, sold for $4.8 million at an auction in Geneva Wednesday.

Composed of approximately 300 carats of old mine-cut diamonds, the historic piece was once worn during royal coronations and is rumoured to hold ties to the scandal that tainted Marie Antoinette’s reputation.

A necklace thought to contain diamonds from an earlier necklace which embroiled Marie Antoinette in scandal has found success at auction.

A MYSTERIOUS diamond-laden necklace with possible links to a scandal that contributed to the downfall of Marie Antoinette, sold for 4.26 million francs (S$6.5 million) at an auction in Geneva Wednesday.

A diamond-studded necklace thought to be linked to a scandal that hastened the downfall of the doomed 18th century queen of France, Marie Antoinette, sold at auction in Geneva on Wednesday for 4.26 million Swiss francs ($4.

Worn at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, the 300-carat diamond necklace sold Wednesday for more than twice its estimate at an auction in Geneva.

Experts say some of the stones in the piece are a match with the original diamonds central to a royal scandal.

The 300-carat necklace thought to be at the center of the infamous 'Affair of the Diamond Necklace' that contributed to the French Revolution sold at auction in Geneva

"There is obviously a niche in the market for historical jewels with fabulous provenances," Sotheby's jewelry specialist Andres White Correal said after a diamond-studded necklace with a possible link to Marie Antoinette's downfall sold for more than double the pre-sale estimate.