Image copyright AFP Image caption The star of the auction was Marie Antoinette's Pearl, a natural pearl and diamond pendant 
 
 A pearl and diamond pendant that belonged to ill-fated French Queen Marie Antoinette has been sold for $36m (£28m) in what Sotheby's auction house says is a world record for a pearl. 
 
 The star lot at Sotheby's Geneva show was bought after a fierce bidding war. It had been valued at about $2m. 
 
 It was part of a major collection of jewellery sold by Italy's royal Bourbon-Parma house. 
 
 Some of the jewels had not been seen in public for 200 years. 
 
 The previous record for the most expensive pearl jewel was a necklace once owned by the late Dame Elizabeth Taylor. It was sold for $11.8m at Christie's auction house in 2011. 
 
 Sotheby's called Wednesday's auction in Geneva "one of the most important royal jewellery collections ever to appear on the market". 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The French queen's jewels are part of a larger collection auctioned by Italy's Bourbon-Parma family 
 
 Deputy Chair Daniela Mascetti said: "This extraordinary group of jewels offers a captivating insight into the lives of its owners going back hundreds of years." 
 
 But she noted the "inherent beauty of the pieces themselves; the precious gems they are adorned with and the exceptional craftsmanship they display are stunning in their own right". 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Marie Antoinette's pendant sits here on a 119-natural-pearl necklace 
 
 Other auctioned items include the natural pearl and diamond necklace, a pair of pearl and diamond earrings, and a monogram ring with a lock of her hair. 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption One of the other items up for sale is a diamond ring bearing the initials MA for Marie Antoinette and containing a lock of her hair 
 
 There were also pieces from King Charles X, the Archdukes of Austria and the Dukes of Parma, including a diamond tiara. 
 
 The whole collection was sold for more than £53m. 
 
 Marie Antoinette was an Austrian princess before her marriage to France's King Louis XVI. Her extravagant lifestyle turned her into a hate figure in the years leading up to the French Revolution, when many French people could barely afford to feed their families. 
 
 She smuggled out her jewellery to her family in Austria before her failed attempt to flee France with Louis XVI and their children. She was guillotined in 1793 at the age of 37. ||||| Enter Sale Room 
 
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 Have you ever wanted to wear jewels fit for a queen? Now's your chance. 
 
 Jewelry that once belonged to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the French Revolution, is going under the hammer Wednesday evening at Sotheby's in Geneva. 
 
 The jewels formerly belonging to Marie Antoinette include a diamond and pearl pendant, with a value estimated at between $1 million and $2 million. Credit: Sotheby's 
 
 The jewels once belonging to the ill-fated queen include a diamond and pearl pendant estimated to be worth between $1 million and $2 million, a pearl and diamond necklace valued at $200,000 to $300,000 and a diamond double-ribbon-bow brooch valued between $50,000 and $80,000. 
 
 There's also a diamond ring containing a lock of the queen's hair. It's worth an estimated $20,000 to $50,000. 
 
 The jewelry formerly belonging to Marie Antoinette also includes a diamond double ribbon bow brooch valued between $50,000 and $80,000. Credit: Laura Ly / CNN 
 
 The jewelry is part of a larger auction comprising items from the Bourbon Parma family, one of Europe's most significant dynastic houses. The family is linked to French royals, including Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis XVI, as well as kings of Spain, emperors of Austria and dukes of Parma. 
 
 Sotheby's, the luxury dealer managing the auction, called the collection "one of the most important royal jewelry collections ever to come to auction" in a press release. 
 
 Smuggled out of France 
 
 With the revolution raging, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette plotted their escape from France. In March 1791, just months before her arrest, the queen placed a selection of her diamonds, rubies and pearls in a wooden chest. 
 
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 The collection made its way to Vienna by way of Brussels in the care of Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy Argenteau, an Austrian diplomat and loyal retainer to the queen. 
 
 Both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were imprisoned and executed by guillotine in 1793. Their son died in captivity shortly afterwards at the age of 10. 
 
 "Their last surviving child Marie-Thérèse, known as 'Madame Royale,' was released from three years of solitary confinement in 1795. Upon her eventual arrival in Vienna in 1796 she reclaimed her mother's jewels, which had been kept safe by her cousin, the Austrian Emperor," Sotheby's said. 
 
 Marie Antoinette's jewelry forms part of a larger auction collection composed of pieces from one of Europe's most significant dynastic families. This tiara belonged to the Bourbon Parma family. Credit: Laura Ly / CNN 
 
 The collection was kept in the family for over 200 years. Some of the jewels went on public display for the first time this fall, when they were taken to New York, Dubai, London, Singapore and Taipei on a pre-auction international tour. 
 
 "Every jewel is absolutely imbued with history," said Daniela Mascetti, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's Jewelry Europe. "This extraordinary group of jewels offers a captivating insight into the lives of its owners going back hundreds of years."
– Let them eat their hearts out. Jewels that once belonged to Marie Antoinette, the extravagant and doomed last queen of France, are set to hit the auction block as part of what Sotheby's calls "one of the most important royal jewellery collections ever to appear on the market." Sold by Italy's royal House of Bourbon-Parma, the items up for grabs Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland—smuggled to Antoinette's family in Austria before she and Louis XVI met the guillotine in 1793—haven't been seen in public for 200 years, reports the BBC. They include a pearl and diamond pendant, valued at up to $2 million, and a monogram ring with a lock of Antoinette's hair, expected to fetch up to $50,000, per CNN. (Antoinette's silk shoes were previously sold.)