A mysterious necklace laden with some 500 diamonds and 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.

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 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-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.