Sotheby’s New York set two world records for gemstones today, one for a 55.22 carat Mozambican ruby known as ‘Estrela de Fura 55.22’ and the other for a purplish pink fancy diamond of 10.57 carats called “the eternal rose”. They fetched identical prices of $34.8 million.
It’s the first time in auction history that two stones have fetched prices over $30 million in a single sale, the house points out, and the ruby set a record for all colored gemstones at auction. Around $3.3 million per carat, pink diamond is a new price per carat for color grade. The two lots were guaranteed to be sold and backed by irrevocable auctions.
“Today we witnessed the historic sale of not one, but two of the most exquisite and important diamonds and gemstones ever to come to auction,” said Quig Bruning, Head of Jewelery Sotheby’s, Americas. , in a press release.
While declining to reveal what pre-sale estimates were, the house told Artnet News that the ruby went to a private collector in the Middle East.
The American Gemological Laboratories described the ruby as “of unparalleled uniqueness and importance”, adding that it was “by far the largest ruby of such quality ever produced in Mozambique”.
This The 55.22 carat Mozambican ruby is known as “Estrela de Fura 55.22”. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
“Estrela de Fura” means “Star of Fura” in Portuguese. The name refers to the company that mined the stone and owns some nine ruby mining licenses in Mozambique. Only two rubies topped $15 million at auction, according to Sotheby’s.
The price of the diamond, mined by De Beers at the Damtshaa mine in Botswana, far exceeds the previous high price for a diamond of the same variety, $19.9 million, achieved at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, by an example of 10 .64 carats.
The Gemological Institute of America described the diamond as “a breathtaking specimen; one of the great wonders of nature transformed through art and ingenuity.”
Due to the “violent and chaotic” events that give birth to a diamond, the auctioneer says, other minerals or inclusions are often trapped inside or cause it to break down into smaller fragments, so it is “incredibly rare” to find a bigger one. greater than 10 carats free from such impurities. “This is especially true for pink diamonds due to their inherent structural irregularities,” according to Sotheby’s.
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