Opera singer Maria Callas's jewels sold at Sotheby's for 1 million pounds

According to Sotheby's, jewels which belonged to the late Greek-American opera singer &to=http://english.pravda.ru/science/2003/06/27/48745_.html' target=_blank>Maria Callas have fetched 2.19 million Swiss francs (1 million pounds) at auction, triple the pre-sale estimate.

There was hectic bidding for the 11 pieces, which the auction house said were put up for sale by an unnamed heir who had held onto the collection since the soprano's death in 1977, reports Reuters.

According to Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, among the sold pieces, there was a ring with a diamond of 11.7 carats, the most precious jewel of the collection, sold for 461,000 franc (220,000 euro), a value about three times higher than expected by the experts. The same thing happened to a collier with rubies and diamonds sold for a three times higher price than expected (383,200 Swiss franc).