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

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

The piece was at the centre of a scandal in the 1780s known as the 'Diamond Necklace Affair' in which a hard-up noblewoman named Jeanne de la Motte pretended to be the French queen and acquired the necklace in her name without payment.

Tobias Kormind, managing director of Europe’s largest online diamond jeweller 77 Diamonds, shared his thoughts on the jewellery's historic allure: "A scandalous link to Marie Antoinette and the dramatic end of the French monarchy, this historic necklace, which is unusually intact for a Georgian jewel, has it all."

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

(IDEX Online) - An historic necklace that has been linked to Marie Antoinette sold for $4.8m at Sotheby's Geneva, smashing its pre-auction high estimate of $2.8m. Seven bidders battled it out before the hammer finally fell on what has been described as one of the most magnificent and intact Georgian jewels in private hands.

A diamond necklace that has been worn at two British coronations, and is thought to contain stones from the infamous necklace at the heart of a Marie Antoinette scandal, sold for over $4.8 million at an auction.

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 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.

"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.