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

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

Experts say the quality and age of the diamonds match those from the infamous necklace said to have paved the way for Antoinette's eventual demise.

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."

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 300-carat necklace, whose diamonds have been linked to a scandal involving the last French queen Marie Antoinette, sold Wednesday for nearly $5 million at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva.

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.

A diamond necklace supposedly related to a scandal that precipitated the downfall of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France in the 18th century, was auctioned on Wednesday in Geneva for 4.26 million Swiss francs (4.