Show caption Some of the heirlooms from the Bourbon-Parma dynasty have not been seen publicly for 200 years. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty France Marie Antoinette’s pearl pendant sells for record price of $32m Diamond-and-pearl pendant obliterates reserve price at Sotheby’s in Geneva Associated Press Wed 14 Nov 2018 15.59 GMT Share on Facebook

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A large, drop-shaped natural pearl pendant sold for a hammer price of $32m (£25m) at an auction of jewellery that once belonged to French queen Marie Antoinette, which Sotheby’s is calling a record price for a pearl at auction.

The Queen Marie Antoinette’s Pearl, a diamond-and-pearl pendant, was among the highlight offerings on the block at the Sotheby’s sale of jewellery from the Bourbon-Parma dynasty.

Like many of the 10 former Marie Antoinette pieces up for sale on Wednesday, the pendant obliterated the pre-auction price, in this case $1m-$2m.

The total tally was expected to rise with the inclusion of the buyer’s premium and other fees.

‘Simply irreplaceable’ … the Marie Antoinette Pearl, centre. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty

Sotheby’s billed the sale as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to scoop up heirlooms and jewels that have been held in the Bourbon-Parma dynasty for generations. Some of the Marie Antoinette jewellery had not been seen in public for 200 years until now.

The diamond and pearl jewellery that went under the hammer epitomised the aloof, pre-revolutionary opulence of French royals brought down by the historic uprising.

Marie Antoinette, the wife of King Louis XVI, was executed in France’s revolutionary fervor in 1793.

Before falling victim to the guillotine, she had secretly smuggled abroad some of her most treasured possessions to her relatives, amid swelling revolutionary activity that ultimately marked the beginning of the end for France’s centuries-old monarchy.

“The Marie Antoinette pendant is simply irreplaceable,” Eddie LeVian, the chief executive of jewellers Le Vian, said before the sale. “This is about far more than the gems themselves: Marie Antoinette’s jewellery is inextricably linked to the cause of the French Revolution.”

The queen’s jewellery also included a set of pearl and diamond earrings, a diamond brooch and a natural pearl and diamond necklace. A monogrammed, diamond-set ring bears a lock of Marie Antoinette’s hair.