In June, the ruby ”Estrela de Fura” should come under the hammer. The auction house Sotheby’s announced today in Hong Kong. The 55.22 carat (eleven gram) gemstone could thus become the most expensive ruby ever offered at a campaign. The estimated value is 30 million dollars (around 27 million euros).
The current world record is held by a ruby that was auctioned in Geneva in May 2015 for 30.3 million dollars. Experts assume that the ruby will break the record in June. The gem in New York is auctioned.
101 carats at discovery
The ruby’s name derives from the Fura mining company, which discovered the gemstone in a ruby mine in Mozambique in 2022. When excavated, the rough stone weighed 101 carats, causing a stir in the gemstone industry.
The quality and size of the gem “is almost unheard of,” said Dev Shetty, chief executive officer of Fura Gems, in a statement. The gem is currently on display in Hong Kong, followed by Taipei, China, Singapore, Geneva and Dubai.
Gemstone business in Mozambique
Rubies from Mozambique have been increasingly coming onto the market for several years. Reports speak of curse and blessing at the same time. On the one hand, the taxes paid by the mine operators are to be used for the construction of public buildings.
On the other hand, because of the profit, there are also fights in the regions and sometimes also organized crime, as the “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime” recently found in a report.
