A pearl belonging to Marie Antoinette has sold for a record $36m

Jewellery belonging to doomed French queen Marie Antoinette has been sold at auction – including a pearl and diamond pendant that breaks world records for the sale of a pearl.

The pendant was sold to an unnamed bidder at $36m (£28m) – eclipsing the price of a 16th century pearl necklace given to Elizabeth Taylor by husband Richard Burton, sold for $11.8m (£7.6million) by Christie’s in 2011.

The set was described by Sotheby’s ahead of the sale as “one of the most important royal jewellery collections ever to come to auction”.

“This extraordinary group of jewels offers a captivating insight into the lives of its owners, going back hundreds of years,” said jewellery Deputy Chair Daniela Mascetti. “What is also striking is 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.”

"Tonight we saw the Marie Antoinette factor work its magic," she continued. "No other queen is more famous for her love of jewels, and her personal treasures, pearls and diamonds that survived intact the tumults of history, captivated the interest of collectors around the world.”

The auctioned items – which also included a necklace and an initialled ring containing a lock of her hair – were part of a collection of jewellery smuggled from France at night in 1791 before Marie Antoinette’s death at the hands of French revolutionaries. According to a history of the jewels provided by Sotheby’s, they were smuggled first to Brussels and eventually ended up in Vienna with Antoinette’s nephew, the Austrian Emperor. They were later passed on to Antoinette's daughter, Marie Thérèse, and later passed down the family line.

Antoinette was the last Queen of France before the French revolution. Her love of luxurious and expensive jewellery was well-documented – she appeared in many official portraits draped in jewels – and subject to controversy at a time when many French families could barely feed themselves. She was eventually guillotined by revolutionaries in 1793.

Tiaras, badges and earrings from King Charles X, the Archdukes of Austria and the Dukes of Parma were also sold in the same auction, with a total sale value of $53m (£41m).