Ruby breaks record amid clamour for coloured gems
Photo: Sotheby's
A Burmese ruby broke records this month at auction, as buyers clamour for coloured gems.
The ruby, which weighs 25.59 carats, sold for the world record sum of 28.25 million Swiss francs at auction on Tuesday 12th May. The Magnificent Jewels & Noble Jewels auction, held by Sotheby's, took place in Geneva, fetching a total of 149.9 million Swiss francs, the highest ever total for a various owner jewellery auction.
The Burmese stone was the biggest record breaker, more than doubling its pre-sale estimate to sell for both the highest amount ever paid for a ruby at auction and for any jewel by Cartier.
"Its vivid but saturated colour, poetically referred to as pigeon blood red, is due to a combination of well-balanced trace elements in the stone, typical and characteristic for the finest rubies of Mogok," explains Sotheby's catalogue.
"Based on our records we can conclude that a natural ruby from Burma of this size and colour is extremely rare. Thus, the described gemstone with its combination of outstanding characteristics can be considered [unique]."
Other items at the auction included a 30.23-carat Cartier sapphire from Kashmir achieving 5.738 million Swiss frances (a new record price for a Kashmir sapphire jewel) and a pair of earrings, which sold for 3.19 million Swiss frances, a record for a pair of Burmese sapphire earrings.
Sotheby's sensational haul marks the growing demand and value of coloured gems around the world, as rubies, sapphires and emeralds remain highly popular among jewellery lovers.
A similar auction by Christie's saw a 5.18-carat pink diamond fetch 10 million Swiss francs, although a 19th century brooch from the Spanish royal family, estimated to fetch up to 2 million, was unsold after bids failed to reach the reserve price.
In New York, meanwhile, a three-day Heritage Auctions sale saw jewellery sales total almost $9 million, with several items selling for over half a million dollars.
"The inexorable rise in demand for coloured gemstones and pearls continued this evening," Rahul Kadakia, International Head of Christie's jewellery, said in an official statement.