'Pigeon blood' ruby said to be 'among the rarest of gems' sells for world record £19.3million after fetching DOUBLE the amount expected at auction in Geneva
- The 25.59 carat sold for three times previous record for a ruby
- Sunrise Ruby, from Myanmar, won by an anonymous telephone bidder
- Rare pink diamond once belonging to Napoleon's nice fetched £10.1million
- A pair of diamond and Cartier earrings sold for £2.5million at Sotheby's
A 'pigeon blood' ruby sold for a staggering £19.3million at a Geneva auction - three times the previous record.
The 25.59 carat - amongst the rarest of all gemstones - was auctioned by Sotheby's alongside a rare pink diamond believed to have once belonged to Napoleon's niece, which commanded more than £10million
The 'Sunrise Ruby' went to an anonymous telephone bidder for 28.25 million Swiss francs, with costs.
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Expensive: The 'pigeon blood' ruby (right) sold for £19.3million while the Historic Pink diamond (left) fetched more than £10million at auction
Originally from Myanmar and part of a collection of Cartier jewels up for auction, the stone had been expected to sell for between £7.5 and £11.5million.
It not only set a record for a ruby but was also a record for a Cartier jewel at auction, Sotheby's said.
David Bennett, head of Sotheby's international jewellery division, said it had eclipsed a sale made in November.
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'The Sunrise Ruby sold for just over $30 million (£19million), $30.3 million, which is I think over three times the previous record, which was for the Graff Ruby,' he said.
'The large, pigeon-blood red ruby 'is amongst the rarest of all gemstones. I mean, in 40 years I've ever only seen one this colour, this size, so they are beyond rare.'
Another 'extremely rare' stone, a fancy vivid pink diamond weighing 8.72 carats sold for 14.8 million Swiss francs (£10.1million) at the spring Magnificent Jewels and Nobel Jewels auction.
Stunning: A model shows the size and features of both beautiful rings before they were sold by Sotheby's in Geneva
Extremely rare: The 'Sunrise Ruby' sold for £19.3million while the rare pink diamond also went for more than £10million at 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.
The technical characteristics of the stone and the fact that it is so old suggest it may have been found in the famous Golconda mines of India, according to Bennett.
The market for coloured diamonds and precious stones has never been so dynamic, according to Sotheby's, with pink diamonds among the rarest.
In October 2014, Sotheby's sold a 8.41 carat pink diamond, which was cut differently, for £11.3million.
At Tuesday's auction, a pair of Cartier earrings with sapphires from Myanmar and diamonds sold for 3.4 million Swiss francs (£2.5million).
Rival auction house Christie's will be hosting its spring jewels auction in Geneva on Wednesday.
It said that among the 351 pieces to go under the hammer is the Maria Christina Royal Devantde Corsage diamond brooch, a wedding gift from Spanish king Alfonso XII to his wife, Austrian archduchess Maria Christina in 1879.
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