Maputo, 9 Jun (AIM) – A 55.22-carat ruby named “Estrela de Fura” (“Star of Rage”), discovered by the Canadian company Fura Gems in Montepuez district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, has hit a record price, when it was sold for 34.8 million dollars at an auction that took place in New York, on Wednesday.
According to Forbes Magazine, this is the largest ruby to be sold at auction. Its pre-auction estimate was over 30 million dollars.
The stone went under the hammer in New York in June, less than a year after Fura Gems discovered it in one of its mines in Mozambique.
The finished ruby was cut and polished from a 101-carat rough discovered by Fura Gems, a colored gemstone mining and marketing company based in Dubai, writes the magazine, citing Sotheby’s statement.
“It was unearthed at its ruby mine in Montepuez, Mozambique, in July 2022. Even in its rough, untouched state, the ruby was considered by experts as an exceptional treasure of nature for its fluorescence, outstanding clarity and vivid red hue, known as ‘pigeon’s blood’, a colour traditionally associated only with Burmese rubies”, it adds.
According to Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby’s Jewelry America, the ‘Estrela de Fura’ may signal a change of this perception.
“It is undoubtedly positioned to become the standard bearer for African rubies – and gemstones in general, bringing global awareness to their ability to be on par with, and even outshine, those from Burma”, Bruning said in a statement.
Although rubies were first discovered in Mozambique several decades ago, a significant industry did not emerge there until 2009, when a huge deposit of the stones was found near the northern city of Montepuez. Mozambique is now one of the most productive ruby mining countries in the world.
(AIM)
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