An anonymous buyer has snapped up a necklace of 27 diamonds that once belonged to Catherine the Great of Russia for $1.5 million. Sotheby’s put the necklace up for auction in Geneva, where 200 dealers attended the sale at a hotel. The BBC reports the selling price was several hundred thousand dollars below the auction house’s estimate of $1.9 million. 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.” The necklace remained the property of the Russian royal family until the 1917 revolution. In 1927, it was sold by a London dealer. Sotheby’s said the most recent owner was a woman of noble heritage. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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