WALLIS SIMPSON BRACELET BREAKS AUCTION RECORDS

A bracelet owned by Wallis Simpson, whose affair with Edward VIII led to his abdication, has sold for a world record-breaking £4.5m ($7m) at auction.

The Cartier-designed diamond panther bracelet, was sold by Sotheby's.

It was the most expensive bracelet and most expensive Cartier item to be sold at any auction.

It was one of 20 pieces owned by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to go under the hammer in the sale, which raised a total of £7,975,550 ($12,417,369m).

The jewellery collection had been expected to fetch around £3m ($4.6m).

A ruby, sapphire, emerald, citrine and diamond Cartier flamingo clip was another big seller reaching £1,721,250 ($2,679,712). All prices include the buyer's premium.

David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's Jewellery in Europe and the Middle East, said the Duchess was “a leader of fashion and the epitome of elegance and sophistication for her generation and beyond”.

He said: “The offering comprises not only incomparable examples of the genius of Cartier in collaboration with the Windsors, but also pieces whose inscriptions tell the story of perhaps the greatest love story of the 20th century, the romance that led Edward VIII to abdicate the throne of Great Britain.”