【New York, US】55-Carat Ruby and 10-Carat Pink Diamond Each Set Record at $34.8 Million at Sotheby’s

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Editor’s Note

A new world record was set at Sotheby’s New York when the 55.22-carat “Estrela de Fura” ruby sold for $34.8 million, becoming the most expensive ruby—and colored gemstone—ever sold at auction.

Record-Breaking Ruby Sale

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction in New York has just concluded.

“Estrela de Fura” is a 55.22-carat Mozambican ruby that sold for $34.8 million ($630,288 per carat), setting a world record price for a ruby and any colored gemstone sold at auction.

It is also the largest ruby ever sold at auction. Its pre-sale estimate was over $30 million.

The finished ruby was cut and polished from a 101-carat rough stone discovered by Fura Gems, a Dubai-based colored gemstone mining and marketing company. It was unearthed at its ruby mine in Montepeuz, Mozambique, in July 2022. The company named the rough gem Estrela de Fura (Fura’s Star in Portuguese).

Even in its rough, untouched state, the ruby “was considered by experts to be an exceptional treasure of nature for its fluorescence, its extraordinary clarity, and its vivid red hue, known as ‘pigeon’s blood,’ a color traditionally associated only with Burmese rubies,” Sotheby’s said in a prior statement.

It is rare for a mining company to cut and polish a gem and then sell it at auction. The usual route for newly found colored gems is to sell them rough to a company that would cut and polish the gem, then sell it privately or at auction.

However, Dev Shetty, founder and CEO of Fura Gems, chose not only to follow the auction route on his own but also to embark on a worldwide tour of the rare gem, promoting not only this stone but also Mozambican rubies as equals to Burmese rubies, which have historically been considered the primary source of the most sought-after rubies.

Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby’s Jewelry America, said previously that the Estrela de Fura could signal a shift in this perception. “It is undoubtedly positioned to become the standard-bearer for African rubies, and for gemstones in general, generating worldwide awareness of their ability to be on par with, and even outshine, those from Burma,” Bruning said in a statement.
Record-Breaking Pink Diamond Sale

The second record set at the New York auction was for “The Eternal Pink,” an elegant, vivid purplish-pink internally flawless diamond described as “the most vivid pink diamond ever to come to market.” It sold for an identical $34.8 million ($3,292,763 per carat), a world auction record for an elegant purplish-pink diamond and a new record price per carat. It had a pre-sale estimate of $35 million.

The price achieved surpasses the previous record for a purplish-pink diamond, set in 2019 when an intense purplish-pink elegant-cut 10.64-carat diamond sold for $19.9 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong ($1,865,703 per carat).

The Eternal Pink was discovered by De Beers in partnership with Botswana at the Damtshaa mine, and Diacore, a company specializing in cutting and polishing rare rough diamonds, transformed it into a cushion cut over a six-month period.

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⏰ Published on: June 09, 2023