Dubai: At $34.8 million, the world's priciest ruby has just been sold at an auction by Sotheby's in New York - a stone that belonged to Dubai-based Fura Gems. The identity of the new owner is unavailable right now.
The ruby, discovered in a Mozambique mine in July 2022, originally came to 101 carat. For the auction, it was pared down to 55.2 carat, and Fura Gems' founder and CEO Dev Shetty was quite confident that the stone would set a mark. And on Thursday (June 8), the stone sure did its part.
The New York auction also set another record - this one for a pink diamond. ‘The Eternal Pink’ - rated as the 'most vivid pink diamond ever to come to market' - also hit $34.8 million. This is a world auction record for a fancy purplish-pink diamond and a new price per carat record for the colour grade.
"Today, we witnessed the historic sale of not one, but two of the most exquisite and important diamonds and gemstones to ever hit the auction block," said Quig Bruning, Head of Sotheby’s Jewelry, Americas.
The 'Estrela De Fura' - which is how the stone was named - was shown around extensively on a world tour, that included Dubai. The 55.2 carat version of the stone was set on a ring, making for better display and even on the logistics side.
"Nothing like this ruby has been discovered for over 700 years," said Shetty. "We couldn't believe it when it was discovered at the mine. This is important not just because of the record price it fetched - this also brings to the world's attention African rubies. Previously, the ruby space was dominated by those from Burma."
Fura holds nine ruby mining licenses in the African country.
