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.

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

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.