Editor’s Note
A record-breaking 55.22-carat ruby, the largest ever to appear at auction, has sold for $34.8 million in New York, setting a new benchmark for the gemstone.
A giant 55.22-carat ruby, named Estrela de Fura, the largest ever offered at auction, was sold on Thursday in New York for $34.8 million (just over €32 million), a record for this gemstone, auction house Sotheby’s announced.
Cut and polished from a 101-carat rough stone discovered in September in a mine in Montepeuz, Mozambique, operated by Fura Gems, the jewel was the star of this jewelry sale which featured 100 lots.
Offered with a starting price of $21 million (just under €19.5 million), it was knocked down for $30 million (about €27.8 million), or $34.8 million including fees and commissions, to an anonymous telephone bidder.
The release of this extremely rare jewel, exhibited in Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Geneva, Dubai, and New York, was an event for the jewelry world.
During the same auction session, “The Eternal Pink”, a rare 10.57-carat pink diamond, sourced from a mine in Botswana, was sold for the same price of $34.8 million, setting a record per carat ($3.29 million) for a stone of this color.
