A rare diamond necklace with possible links to former French queen consort Marie Antoinette is to be auctioned in November with a price estimate of up to $2.8 million.
The 18th century jewel, weighing 300 carats, was made in the decade before the 1789 French Revolution and was last seen in public in 1973 before being sold into a private collection.
Made up of three rows of diamonds with diamond tassels at each end, the piece went on public display for the first time in 50 years on Monday (September 23) at Sotheby's London showrooms.
It is thought some of its diamonds may have come from the infamous "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" piece that tarnished the reputation of Marie Antoinette, the unpopular last queen consort of France before the French Revolution.
The necklace did belong to the Marquesses of Anglesey, an Anglo-Welsh aristocratic family, with members wearing it to the coronations of King George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth in 1953.
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