a giant ruby ​​sold at auction for $34.8 million in New York, a record

It is the largest ruby ​​ever auctioned. A 55.22-carat ruby, called “Estrela de Fura”, was sold on Thursday June 8 in New York for 34.8 million dollars, or 32.3 million euros, announced Sotheby’s. A record for this stone. The jewel was cut and shaped in a rough stone of 101 carats discovered in September in a mine of Montepeuz, in Mozambique, operated by the company Fura Gems.

Proposed at a starting price of 21 million dollars (19.5 million euros), it was awarded 30 million dollars (27.8 million euros), i.e. 34.8 million with fees and commissions, to a purchaser by telephone who remained anonymous. A Sotheby’s spokeswoman told AFP that the buyer was a “private collector from the Middle East”without further details.

The previous record belonged to a Burmese ruby ​​of 25.59 carats, sold for 30.33 million dollars (28.2 million euros) including fees by Sotheby’s in Geneva in 2015.