Unearthed by miners in Mozambique last July, a 55.22-carat ruby has just sold for a record-breaking $34.8 million. Dubbed the Estrela di Fura in the country’s official language of Portuguese, it was cut and polished into a symmetrical shape of deep red down from its rough carat count of 101.
Sotheby’s, which handled the sale, described the stone as “exceedingly rare” and “the most valuable and important” ruby ever to go under the hammer. It was discovered in one of the mines of Canadian firm Fura Gems, whose CEO Dev Shetty said a stone of that size was “unprecedented”
“From the in-depth analysis and study of the stone—through the process of cutting and polishing—we have worked with the utmost care and respect for the ruby, recognizing its importance and stature,” he added. A man named Balbir, who handles sorting for Fura, was both the first to see the jewel and hear back from laboratory work done on it.
“I have a laboratory that came back to me and said: ‘In 20 years of testing, I’ve never seen anything like this’,” Balbir told Voice of Indonesia, per Google Translate. “No one has seen anything like this before, in terms of fluorescent, color, and clarity.”
For the rest of this article: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/largest-ruby-ever-to-come-to-auction-sells-for-record-breaking-34-8-million/