Record $3.6 Million for a Ruby at Christie’s
A record selling price for ruby was set at Christie’s in St. Moritz on February 15 when an 8.62 carat cushion-cut ruby realized a price of $425,000 per carat. This record-breaking gemstone was termed the desired “pigeon’s blood” red used for highly sought rubies from Burma. It was also noted that the ruby was certified by the SSEF lab in Switzerland confirming the authenticity of the ruby with “No indications of heating”. The winning bid, totaling $3.6 million dollars, was placed by Laurence Graff, a London jeweler whose flagship store is located on Bond St. “The price per carat was high”, he indicated, “but the cut and spread of color are the finest I’ve seen”. Graff intends to call the ruby the “Graff Ruby”.
According to index-maker Art Market Research, auction prices for jewels have carried high prices since 1990. Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe and worldwide jewelry chief, remarked, “As you can see from yesterday’s sale, the trend is still up”.
The previous record for a ruby was sold by Christie’s last year in New York where and 8.01 carat stone sold for $275,000 per carat.
This was the most important sale ever organized by Christie’s in St Moritz and, as with fine and decorative arts, the jewelery market continues to show tremendous strength, especially for diamonds and rare colored gemstones.
Source: International Colored Gemstone Association
The International Colored Gemstone Association, headquartered in New York City and operating additional “GemBureaus” in Idar-Oberstein and Dubai, is the nonprofit trade association that represents the international colored gemstone industry, an extremely important and influential segment of the jewelry business. ICA has over 500 members in 46 countries worldwide.