Imperial necklace sells for $1.5m

The necklace is made up of 27 "cushion-shaped diamonds"

A diamond necklace that once belonged to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great has been sold at auction for $1.5m (£870,000) in Geneva.

The 18th Century necklace had been given a high-end estimate price of $1.9m (£1.1m) ahead of the sale.

Auction house Sotheby's says the necklace is a rare survivor from an era when jewellery was broken up for reuse.

It was passed down through the imperial family until the collection was confiscated after the 1917 revolution.

Sotheby's executive director David Bennett - who was the auctioneer at the sale - said they were "not really surprised" the necklace sold for less than its estimate worth.

"We had a full estimate on it," he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

"It's the most important historical necklace that we have sold at Sotheby's" in 30 years, he said.

Unnamed collectors

Around 200 dealers attended the day-long auction at Geneva's Le Beau Rivage hotel.

The necklace was among 340 lots that were sold for a total of $27m (£15m).

The necklace and clasp were passed down through generations Enlarge Image

Sotheby's would not reveal the name of the buyer of Catherine the Great's necklace. Of the former owner, the auction house said only that she was a woman from a "noble family".

The necklace was bought by a London jeweller in 1927. It was then sold on to an unnamed collector and has remained in private hands ever since.

Before the sale, Sotheby's described the necklace as "a beautiful row of 27 large cushion-shaped diamonds within a border of stylized foliate motifs, close set with smaller similarly cut stones, embellished with a ribbon bow clasp, which can be worn separately".