Biggest Ruby Ever To Be Auctioned Sells For $35 Million

The biggest ruby ever to come to auction has been sold in New York for a record sum of just under $35m. The stone, a whopping 55.22 carats, was discovered last year in a mine in mozambique.

Uncut it was 101 carats. It has been called the “estrela de fura” meaning “star of fura” in portuguese. The name refers to the company that mined the stone. Polished rubies of more than five carats are extremely rare.

Sotheby’s, who auctioned the gem, described it as a “once-in-a-lifetime” jewel. The same auction also saw a record sum achieved for a pink diamond.

The 10.5 carat gem from botswana – described as a fancy purplish-pink stone – sold for just under $35m.

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Although record gemstone sales are dominated by diamonds — colored ones, in particular — rubies are also considered among the world’s rarest and most valuable gemstones. The previous auction record for a ruby was set by the Sunrise Ruby, a 25.59-carat stone found in Myanmar that fetched $30.3 million in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2015.

Estrela de Fura was cut from a rough stone that made headlines when it was unearthed by miners last July. Originally weighing 101 carats, almost twice as much as in its current form, it was the largest gem-quality ruby ever discovered.

The huge stone was cut into a smaller symmetrical shape and polished, processes that remove impurities and enhance the color and brilliance of a gemstone before it is put onto the market. According to Sotheby’s, a report from the Swiss Gemmological Institute said that this had “resulted in vivid red hues due to multiple internal reflections.”