A rare, 25.59-carat pigeon blood ruby ring sold at auction for $30.3 million, shattering the record for most ever paid for a ruby at auction. Photo courtesy Sotheby's auction house
GENEVA, Switzerland, May 13 (UPI) -- An incredibly rare -- and large -- pigeon blood ruby ring sold for $30.3 million, shattering a number of records at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva, the auction house said.
The 25.59-carat Burmese stone was estimated to fetch between $12 million and $18 million, but doubled that to set a new record for the highest ever paid for a ruby at auction. The so-called "Sunrise Ruby" ring also established a new records paid for any ruby per carat and for any Cartier stone.
The previous record for a ruby was $8.6 million paid for the 8.62-carat "Graff Ruby" sold by Sotheby's in November.
Together, with a number of other jewelry pieces sold in Sotheby's "Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels" sale, the auction achieved $160 million, the highest ever total for a jewelry auction.
David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby's International Jewelry Division owed the auction's success to the quality of pieces offered.
"The 'Sunrise Ruby' captivated me from the moment I saw it -- such an exquisite stone truly deserved the multiple-record-breaking price this evening," he said in a statement. "The exceptional results achieved for the other Cartier jewels in the sale -- including two world auction records for sapphires -- and for 'The Historic Pink Diamond' are evidence that the market for exceptional jewels is going from strength to strength. The galleries have been brimming with collectors during our worldwide exhibitions, and this translated into lively bidding throughout the sale tonight with truly global demand for the finest diamonds, gemstones and signed pieces of the very highest order."
"The Historic Pink Diamond" is a 8.72-carat stone ring believed to have once belonged to Napoleon I's niece, Princess Mathilde of Bonaparte. The ring sold for $15.9 million.
Other records broken at Wednesday's auction include amount paid for a pair of Burmese sapphire earrings ($3.4 million), amount paid for a Kashmir sapphire jewel ($6.1 million) and amount paid for a two-row natural pearl necklace ($7 million).
