A centuries-old diamond passed down through generations of European royalty fetched nine million Swiss francs ($9.7 million) at auction in Geneva on Tuesday.

The 34.98-carat “Beau Sancy” diamond measures 2.3 centimetres in height, is 1.9 cm wide and 1.1 cm deep.

Passed down through the royal families of France, England, Prussia and the Netherlands, the Beau de Sancy has witnessed 400 years of European history.

A bottle of French wine dating back to 1774 and dubbed “the wine of kings and the king of wines” fetched $49,200 at auction in Geneva on Tuesday.

This weekend, some iconic classic cars from through the years will go on auction at RM Auctions’ sale, a biennial event, running from May 11 to 12, 2012.

Mark Rothko’s 1961 oil painting, ‘Orange, Red, Yellow’, set a new auction record for post-war art on Tuesday at an “unprecedented” Christie’s sale.

The large-scale work soared to $86.9 million,  eclipsing the $86.3 million paid for Francis Bacon’s Triptych in 2008 as the most expensive post-war artwork at auction.

The only privately owned version of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” set a world record Wednesday when it sold for $119.9 million at Sotheby’s in New York.

Heated competition between seven bidders took the price to the highest for a work of art at auction in just 12 minutes, sparking applause.

The previous record was held by Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust which sold in 2010 for $106.5 million.

Fans bidding in a charity online auction to buy a teacup used once by pop diva Lady Gaga had offered more than four million yen ($50,000) by Tuesday.

The china cup and saucer set was used by the star at a press conference in Tokyo three months after the massive tsunami of March last year swamped a large stretch of coastline.