'Estrela de Fura': World's largest ruby sells at auction for record $34.8 million

"Estrela de FURA 55.22", the largest and most valuable ruby to ever appear at auction, was sold for a whopping $34.8 million, setting a new record at Sotheby's New York on Monday (June 8). "Estrela de Fura 55.22" means Star of Fura in Portuguese.

The incredible gemstone was offered at a starting price of $21 million, and it was sold for $30 million plus fees and commissions to an anonymous telephone buyer.

The stunning gemstone was cut from a 101-carat rough stone discovered in July last year at the Montepeuz ruby mine in Mozambique, which is operated by the Fura Gems company.

The official website of Sotheby's shared details about FURA Gems, a company which started its journey in Mozambique in 2017 and currently holds nine ruby mining licenses in the country.

The auction site stated that FURA is the fastest-growing coloured gemstone mining company in the world and is committed to sustainability and corporate social responsibility. It has sister emerald and sapphire mines in Colombia and Australia.

Miners in Montepuez discovered the remarkable ruby last year, which was transparent and stunningly vivid rough. It weighed a staggering 101 carats. It was dubbed "Estrela de FURA" (or Star of FURA in Portuguese).

The Estrela de FURA was unveiled in Dubai in September 2022 and grabbed worldwide attention as the largest gem-quality ruby ever discovered.

As quoted by the news agency Reuters, Uni Kim, who is a jewellery specialist at Sotheby's Hong Kong, said, "It is from Mozambique, which is also one of the new and more popular origins that we see for rubies, apart from the more traditional and the classic Burmese pieces."

"It is one of the biggest and largest gem-quality ruby that we have ever seen. The colour and the saturation, the clarity together with you know everything that comes together with the ruby, it's just a very fantastic and beautiful piece (sic)," Kim said.

Previously, the world record for a ruby sold at auction was set in May 2015 by a 25.59-carat Burmese stone called "Sunrise Ruby". It had fetched $30.3 million at Sotheby's in Geneva.

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‘The Eternal Pink’

Sotheby's also sold "The Eternal Pink," a rare 10.57-carat diamond from a mine in Botswana, for the same price of $34.8 million.

That set a record per carat of $3.29 million for a stone of its colour. The most expensive pink diamond sold to date was the $71.2 million paid for the 59.60-carat "Pink Star" in Hong Kong in 2017.

(With inputs from agencies)

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