Last week, there was another big news that everyone was talking about in jewelry auctions, which was sold for $34.8 million at Sotheby's New York, the largest and most expensive ruby ever sold! Weighing 55.22 carats, this ruby set a world auction record for a ruby and any colored gemstone! You know, in the past, there have only been two rubies that have sold for more than $15 million. The "Star of Fortune" is said to have been voted by private collectors in the Middle East and is destined to go down in history as a jewelry lot.
Quig Bruning, head of jewelry at Sotheby's Americas, at the 55.22 ct sale of the Estrela de Fura Star
So where did this gemstone come from? Named by the Mozambican mining company Fura Gems, the 101-carat rough stone is the largest gem-quality ruby in the world. When it was announced in September 2022, it sparked a conversation in the global gem world and shook the entire jewelry community!
"Star of Well-Cross" Ruby 55.22 ct Mozambique, unheated June 2023, Sotheby's New York Price realised: $34,804,500
Why can the price of "Lucky Star" set a world record? First of all, of course, is its weight, which weighs 55.22 carats, which is truly unique among the best rubies. Prior to this, the ruby auction record was held by the 25-carat "Sunrise Ruby" from Myanmar, which sold for $30.3 million at Sotheby's Geneva in 2015, and has long been regarded as the benchmark for rare rubies, while the "Lucky Star" weighs more than twice as much as the "Sunrise Ruby".
The Sunrise Ruby
In addition, of course, the color and clarity of the "Star of Fortune" are almost impeccable, and without heat treatment, its color is pure and fresh, reaching the grade of "pigeon's blood red", and there are no cracks or inclusions in the clarity that affect the perception, such as the clump-like reflective filamentous inclusions that most Mozambique rubies will have, and its rutile needle-like inclusions add a touch of luxury and depth.
"Star of Fortune" Ruby 55.22 ct Mozambique Unheated June 2023, Sotheby's New York Price realised: $34,804,500
However, there is a detail that Sister Bazhu would like to say, according to the information on Sotheby's website, this ruby has reports from multiple grading agencies, including AGL, SSEF, GRS, Gübelin and Bellerophon. For color descriptions, GRS and Bellerophon give a rating of "pigeon's blood", while some institutions such as SSEF and Gübelin are more strict about ruby color, not giving a "pigeon's blood red" rating, but saying that the color of the gemstone is "saturated red color" and "saturated and homogeneous red color".
As you know, Myanmar has long been recognized as the source of the best rubies, and the Mozambican source is believed to have been heard about in recent years, and the price has skyrocketed. An important reason for the soaring price of Mozambique rubies is the growing realization that there are also world-class ruby deposits, and the color "pigeon's blood" traditionally found only in Myanmar is also found in Mozambique rubies, and the quality of African rubies is comparable to Burmese rubies. The appearance of the "Star of Fortune" once again confirms this fact.
Gemfields responsibly mined rough Mozambique rubies
In fact, ruby mining in Mozambique has a rich and long history, with the first significant ruby deposits found here dating back to the 60s of the 20th century. So why did everyone only recently know that Mozambique rubies are good? That's because ruby mining in Mozambique was only gaining momentum at the beginning of the 21st century, with the discovery of the Montepuez ruby deposit in northern Mozambique (where the rough "Star of Fortune" was mined), producing high-quality Mozambican rubies with excellent transparency and intense color.
Sister Bazhu remembers that many years ago, the jewelry circle was debating whether Mozambique rubies could be given the rating of "pigeon's blood red", and in recent years, Mozambican rubies have long been famous and worth more. So how do Mozambican rubies compare to traditionally recognized good Burmese rubies? Let's look at several aspects of evaluating the quality of colored gemstones.
1 color
Myanmar: I am the 'pigeon's blood red' with red roots.
Mozambique: My color is not inferior to yours.
"Pigeon's Blood Red" is a color that can only be achieved by the finest rubies, and in addition to being pure, saturated and bright, it also gives people a strong feeling of "burning fire" and "flowing blood". The "pigeon's blood red" of the Myanmar region is undoubtedly authentic, but nowadays it is not only Burmese rubies that can be called "pigeon's blood red", it is only a description of the color and not the place of origin.
Mozambican rubies mined responsibly by Gemfields
Most of the mozambican rubies show a rich and pure bright red, rarely orange, pink and purple hues, just the right chemical composition and the right proportion of fluorescent components, so that Mozambique rubies have a sparkling and vivid red, high-quality Mozambique rubies are not inferior to the top Burmese rubies in appearance color.
2 Clarity
Myanmar: I admit that I am prone to a lot of fissures.
Mozambique: I was born clean and vitreous.
Clarity has a great impact on both the "appearance" and value of a ruby. Due to the growing environment, many Burmese rubies are accompanied by fissures, which require heat treatment to improve clarity, but most Mozambican rubies are naturally vitreous and do not need heat treatment to have high "appearance".
Rough Mozambique rubies, weighing 32.5 carats and 29 carats, respectively, were mined by Gemfields
3 sizes
Myanmar: Big and good has long been mined by you.
Mozambique: I can export large carats and small carats.
In your past, were rubies over five carats already hard to see? This is true for Burmese rubies, where auction prices for more than five carats of Burmese unburned "pigeon's blood" rubies start at 10 million yuan. The reason for this is that since the 15th century, the large grains of high-quality rubies in Myanmar have been nearly depleted, let alone five carats, and now it is rare to see more than one carat of Burmese unburned "pigeon's blood".
8.88 ct natural Mozambique ruby ring by Gimel Christie's lot
But Mozambique is different, where 5 to 10 carats of rubies are produced from time to time, and 1 to 2 carats of production is consistent and stable, so Mozambique rubies are often seen on the market today.
4 Price
Myanmar: I am very noble, and if you want to invest in collections, choose me steadily.
Mozambique: My prices have skyrocketed, and I can buy them quickly.
In addition to quality, the price of ruby is determined by the problem of rarity, Myanmar has a long mining history, production has now fallen significantly, and it is difficult to find in the market today, and its investment collection value is of course self-evident. Mozambican rubies are a new source compared to Myanmar, so the market price is not as high as Myanmar, but a top-quality Mozambican ruby can fetch a high price at auction.
Let's take two examples, and you can see how big the price gap is. The same rubies of about five carats, although there are certainly differences in quality in addition to the place of origin, but the sale price of the "Mogu Sunshine" ruby from Myanmar is 22.835 million Hong Kong dollars, which is about 14 times the transaction price of the same carat ruby in Mozambique!
Mo Gu Sunshine Natural Burmese "Pigeon Blood Red" Unheated 5.05 Carat Sotheby's Hong Kong realized on April 4, 2023 HK$22,835,000
5.02ct Natural Mozambique Unheated April 2022, Sotheby's Hong Kong Estimate: HK$1,000,000~1,500,000 Price realised: HK$1,638,000
Big names have long been focusing on Mozambique rubies, and at last week's Chaumet Paris' haute couture-themed VIP dinner, Song wore the "Feuille de Vigne" emerald fence-themed necklace of Chaumet's "Le Jardin de Chaumet" garden stroll, a 5.18 ct Mozambican ruby.
In the first two years, Bulgari also used Mozambique rubies to interpret fine jewelry and fine jewelry watches. This "ruby metamorphosis" is said to have taken up to 2,500 hours to manufacture. The necklace has a detachable structure and contains a diamond choker and a long chain with at least nine wearing styles. A cushion-cut Mozambique ruby weighing about 10.02 carats is located in the center of the necklace.
Bulgari Magnifica Ruby Metamorphosis "Ruby Metamorphosis" necklace
The mystery watch in the same series also uses a cushion-cut Mozambique ruby of about 6.3 carats. Made in platinum, this mystery watch took up to 1,650 hours to manufacture, and the dial is hidden under a Mozambican ruby weighing about 6.3 carats, whose vivid red hue evokes a view at sunset.
Bulgari Magnifica Ruby Metamorphosis "Ruby Metamorphosis" High Jewelry watch
British jeweler "Vania Leles" once launched a jewelry collection called "Out of Africa", which uses rose gold with rubies and rubellites from Mozambique, and the name indicates that both gemstones are from Africa.
Vania Leles Out of Africa collar, set with 24.7 carats of Mozambique rubies
Today, Mozambique has become an important production area of rubies in the world, I believe that friends will see it more and more often, although Mozambique is a new production area compared to Myanmar, but it has to admit that it is a promising "big dark horse".
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