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

A necklace thought to be linked to a scandal that prompted the downfall of the doomed French queen Marie Antoinette has been sold at auction for $4.81m (£3.8m). The Georgian piece contains about 500 diamonds and was bought for almost double the amount ...

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.Sotheby's said it was likely that some of the diamonds featured in the piece came from the famous necklace from the scandal that engulfed Marie Antoinette just a few years before she was guillotined.

"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.