Estrela de FURA: the most treasured ruby ever

The world’s largest ruby, with its 55.22 carats, an extraordinary gem discovered in Mozambique, will be auctioned in early June 2023.

All the spotlights will be on Sotheby’s in New York, where Magnificent Jewels Auction will be held on 8 June 2023. Guest of honour the largest and most precious ruby to ever appear in the market. Its name, mysterious and captivating, is Estrela de FURA which in Portuguese means “The Star of Fura”.

FURA Gems Inc., the mining company which unearthed this priceless gem in July 2022, doesn’t hide its satisfaction. In fact, with this sensational discovery, a new page in the history of rubies is opened. This incredible discovery took place in Mozambique in the Montepuez ruby mine owned by the company. As it is known, Burma has historically been considered the main source of the most sought-after rubies. Quig Bruning, Head of Sotheby’s Jewelry America, says that Estrela de FURA could mark a change in perception, bringing this part of Africa into the limelight.

A record-breaking gem – The Gübelin Gem Lab pointed out that Estrela de FURA “is setting a new record not only for Mozambican rubies, but also for rubies in general.” This unique gem 55.22 carats, is poised to rewrite history and likely outclass the 25.59-carat “Sunrise Ruby”, a Burmese-origin ruby that was sold for $30.3 million at Sotheby’s in Geneva in 2015 and which still holds the world auction record for a ruby. Estrela de FURA began its world tour at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, then continued with exhibitions scheduled in Taipei, China, Singapore, Geneva and Dubai before becoming the undisputed star of the Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction in New York on 8 June, 2023.

I was given the opportunity to interview the CEO of FURA Gems Mr. Dev Shetty in Geneva and my first question was to ask him about the differences between the Mozambican rubies and the Burmese ones.

“I don’t think that you will ever find another Estrela de FURA in the near future. It has nothing to envy to Burmese rubies for its clarity, size, color and more important for its fluorescence. Mozambican mines are 500 million years old, much older than Burmese ones and therefore they have many more traps where special rubies can be found. Burma’s mines have been running out and sanctions have squeezed supply. Over the past decade Mozambican mines have been able to bring this scarcity to an end.”

What changes are expected in the market after this discovery?

“The first aspect is that now Mozambique is recognized not only as the largest supplier of rubies in the world but also of high-quality rubies. Estrela de FURA has become a point of reference for our consistency plan. We plan to improve our environment policies, conditions of workers and sustainability. Our three pillars are: environment, community and employment which will make our clients more confident in FURA.”

Tell me more about these three pillars:

“We have got three mines in Colombia, in Australia and in Mozambique and they have been built on these three very important pillars. For instance, in Colombia, we have 700 employees, but we support 10,000 community members. We have a FURA Training Academy which educates over 1500 students and I believe that by the end of the year 3000 community members will be trained. In Mozambique, the first thing we did was to open a Primary School for the employees’ children and we supported their agricultural system. In Mozambique we now employ 800 people and we are supporting about 5000 community members. We are also taking care of the vegetation which is almost back to its original state. Similarly in Australia we contribute to the environment by planting ten trees for every tree that is taken down. Sustainability doesn’t end with the sale to our clients. We pay of course our taxes, royalties, we support the government but It’s essential the transparency and disclosure. We will be fully certified with the RJC (Responsible Jewellery Council) by the end of the year 2023”.

CMO Rupak Sen, Marketing Director Gianluca Maina, L.A.P. and CEO Dev Shetty

As for what’s next, Mr. Shetty says that their next big story is Madagascar. FURA initiated its exploration program for sapphire mining in this African country. FURA Gems wants to build in Madagascar an ethical market adopting the same model already experimented in Colombia.