The largest ruby ever sold at auction has gone for a record $34.8m (£28m) in New York.
Sotheby’s, which sold the 55.22 carat gem, described it as a “once-in-a-lifetime” gem.
The original rough stone weighed a staggering 101 carats when it was found last year in a mine in Mozambique, which has vast ruby deposits in the north of the country.
Polished rubies larger than five carats are extremely rare.
The rare gem has been dubbed ‘Estrela de Fura’, which means ‘Star of Fura’ in Portuguese, named after the mine where it was found.
Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby’s Jewellery in New York, said he was enchanted when he first saw the stone, according to the Press Association.
“With its unprecedented size, penetrating colour and rare degree of optical transparency and clarity, it truly deserves today’s record-breaking price as it now joins the ranks of the world’s most legendary gemstones.”
Fura’s Mozambique ruby mine is located in the Montepeuz district of Cabo Delgado province, where a militant Islamist insurgency has raged in recent years.
Cabo Delgado is one of Mozambique’s poorest regions, but is rich in untapped mineral resources.
Analysts say the insurgency, which began in 2017, has been fuelled by frustration over a lack of local jobs.
Troops from the regional bloc Sadc were deployed to the region in 2021 to fight the jihadists, who were notorious for their brutal attacks. Their power had grown to the point where they controlled key towns in the province.
The regional force has helped the Mozambican army regain control of the towns and violence has decreased, but the militants are known to still operate at a low level.
According to Sotheby’s, part of the proceeds from the sale of the Estrela de Fura will be used by Fura to set up an academy to provide technical training in mining, engineering, carpentry and agriculture.
