A 170-carat sapphire and diamond necklace modelled after a piece of jewellery in the movie Titanic has sold for US$2.2 million (HK$17 million) at a fund-raiser in Beverly Hills held in honour of Princess Diana.
Co-chaired by Angela Lansbury, John Travolta, Kelly Preston and Rupert Everett, the celebrity Princess Ball was part of a gala to raise money for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and Southern California's Aid for AIDS.
The piece of jewellery, created by Asprey London and called 'La Coeur de la Mer' or Heart of the Ocean, had been valued at US$3.5 million before the auction.
The buyer was not identified by the organisers.
A blue oval box painted with the letter 'D' and decorated with Britain's national flowers went for US$6,000 to a woman who declined to give her name.
Diana had given the box to Paul Burrell, her butler, as a birthday gift.
Burrell now manages the memorial fund.