A 25.59 carat “pigeon blood” ruby sold for a world record $30.33 million at auction in Geneva Tuesday while a rare pink diamond believed to have once belonged to Napoleon’s niece fetched $15.9 million, Sotheby’s said.
After competitive bidding, the ruby went to an anonymous telephone bidder for 26.25 million Swiss francs (27.3 million euros), with costs.
The “Sunrise Ruby” from Myanmar, part of a collection of Cartier jewels up for auction, had been expected to sell for between $12 million and $18 million.
It set a record for a ruby and was also a record for a Cartier jewel at auction, Sotheby’s said.
An “extremely rare” fancy vivid pink diamond weighing 8.72 carats sold for 14.8 million Swiss francs ($15.9 million, 14.3 million euros) at the spring Magnificent Jewels and Nobel Jewels auction.
The stone, known as “The Historic Pink” and mounted on a ring with a classic non-modified cushion cut, is believed to have been part of the collection of Princess Mathilde, niece of French Emperor Napoleon I, according to the Gemological Institute of America.
Another of its former owners was the reclusive American heiress and philanthropist Huguette Clark, who died in 2007.
It only recently reappeared after having been kept in the safe of a bank since the 1940s.
– AFP
Photo: Sotheby’s
