Ruby

10 Famous Ruby Jewelry Pieces You’ll Swoon Over

Our selection of famous ruby jewelry pieces will dazzle you with the elaborate ways they highlight iconic ruby gemstones and their interesting backstories.  

By 

Meyme Nakash

 |  March 6, 2025

For thousands of years, rubies have charmed humankind with their rich crimson hue. We’ve seen the red gemstone everywhere, from the world’s most expensive jewelry — including crown jewels and celebrity jewelry collections — to contemporary ruby jewelry. However, the largest and finest rubies in the world are not in jewelry; they are on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. These famous rubies include the 100.32-carat DeLong Star ruby and the 138.7-carat Rosser Reeves ruby, which were named after their donors, American socialite Edith Haggin DeLong and American advertising executive Rosser Reeves.

What led to our collective fascination with rubies? For one thing, ruby gemstones are extremely rare, making them highly valuable and exclusive. Rubies are also one of the most important precious gemstones and specifically a part of the Big Three, a trio of the most precious colorful gemstones, including emerald and sapphire. Above all, it scores a 9 on the Mohs scale (second only to diamond), which measures a gemstone’s hardness, so it’s no wonder that royal families and celebrities have insisted on incorporating rubies into their most prized pieces. 

Many of the most famous pieces of ruby jewelry showcase some of the largest and highest-quality rubies; this includes those with important provenances — notably, Burmese rubies, which are the most sought-after because of their “pigeon’s blood” hue. Marco Hadjibay, creative director of Bayco Jewels, a high-jewelry brand specializing in rare colorful gemstones, describes them as having “been coveted for centuries, but few have had the opportunity to attain them, making their value increase year after year.”

Here, we round up our top 10 pieces of famous ruby jewelry and explain their unique qualities and significance. 

10 Famous Ruby Jewelry Pieces You’ll Swoon Over

Estrela de Fura 

In 2023, Sotheby’s presented the Estrela de Fura in New York. This ruby took everyone’s breath away with its remarkable color saturation and massive size: 55.22 carats. Dubai-based mining company Fura Gems discovered the ruby in a mine in Mozambique, Africa. The name Estrela de Fura translates to “star of Fura” in Portuguese, Mozambique’s official language, marking its extraordinary color saturation and size. It has a rich purplish-red color ideal for rubies that have not undergone heat treatment. In rough form, this is the largest known ruby of gem quality in the world. To put this in perspective, less than 1% of mined rubies are considered gem quality. Therefore, a ruby of this size and quality is a natural phenomenon. All this helps to explain why the highest bidder paid a staggering $34.8 million for it. 

The Jubilee Ruby

Rubies from the Mogok region of Myanmar (Burma) are the finest and most desirable in the industry. Burmese rubies are famous for their pigeon’s-blood red hue, minimal inclusions, and excellent clarity. However, they’re typically found in smaller sizes, most of which are less than one carat. This helps explain why the Jubilee Ruby, an untreated 15.99-carat ruby of Burmese origin, is so remarkable. Verdura, the legendary high-jewelry house, designed a stunning ring to showcase this wonder; it has a voluptuous flower-inspired silhouette with an 18K yellow gold band and diamond “petals” that hold the circle-cut ruby. In 2016, the ring fetched $14.1 million at a Christie’s auction. 

Faidee Red Emperor Ruby and Diamond Necklace 

When it comes to heart jewelry, this necklace takes the cake. Faidee, a Monaco-based jewelry company that specializes in sourcing Burmese rubies and Kashmir sapphires, created this piece. It incorporated 60 rubies that the family amassed over four generations weighing a total of 104.51 carats. It is a fringe necklace, a type of jewelry in which a series of pendants hang from a base line. In this case, the pendants alternate between a heart-shaped ruby and brilliant-cut diamond. These have pear-shaped rubies and diamonds hanging from them, respectively. The rubies in this piece have a gorgeous, vivid red hue, accentuated by the brilliance of diamonds. In 2014, it fetched $77.4 HKD (just shy of $10 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong.

The Sunrise Ruby 

Next on our list of famous ruby jewelry is the Sunrise Ruby, a cushion-cut Burmese ruby weighing 25.59 carats. In 2015, this unheated ruby fetched 28,250,000 CHF ($30.3 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva. It was the most expensive ruby ever sold at auction until it was eclipsed by the Estrela de Fura in 2023. Cartier designed its elegant platinum ring setting, featuring two shield-shaped diamonds on either side that weigh 2.47 and 2.7 carats, respectively. 

Queen Elizabeth II’s Burmese Ruby Tiara

In 1843, Queen Victoria appointed Garrard & Co., a London-based jewelry atelier founded in 1735, as the first official Crown Jeweler of England. Over the years, Garrard & Co. has created iconic jewelry for the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II’s Burmese ruby tiara. Queen Elizabeth II commissioned this treasured piece in 1973, requesting to incorporate 96 Burmese rubies from a necklace she received as a wedding gift from the people of Myanmar in 1947. The legendary jeweler set the rubies as this tiara’s stunning flower motifs, which nod to the Tudor rose, a floral emblem of England that symbolizes its unification under the Tudor dynasty. In 2023, Queen Camilla wore this tiara to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honor of President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeo’s visit to the United Kingdom, as red is one of South Korea’s national colors. 

Ruby and Diamond Brooch and Hair Ornament, Bachruch, circa 1900

In 1905, Archduke Frédéric of Austria (1856-1936) gifted this beautiful brooch and hair ornament to his daughter, Archduchess Marie Anne of Austria, Princess Elie de Bourbon-Parme (1882-1940), to mark the birth of her second son. It has a bow-inspired design with intricate details using brilliant-cut diamonds and a removable pendant featuring a cushion-shaped, 6.89-carat Burmese ruby surrounded by brilliant-cut diamonds. In 2018, this piece sold for 375,000 CHF ($372,300) at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva.

Elizabeth Taylor’s Ruby and Diamond Necklace

In 2011, Christie’s auctioned off some of actress Elizabeth Taylor’s most prized jewels, including her beloved ruby and diamond necklace. This piece is part of a Cartier suite that Mike Todd, Taylor’s third husband, gifted her. It included matching ruby earrings and a bracelet, collectively referred to as Elizabeth Taylor’s rubies. The bib necklace has an Art Deco–inspired design using geometric lines that balance the rubies’ cushion cut. It has eight rubies — one on the clasp and the rest on the front — each with 18K yellow gold prongs. The piece’s diamond latticework comprises baguette- and brilliant-cut diamonds set in platinum. Due to its notable provenance as a piece of Taylor’s history, the winning bidder paid $3.8 million for this masterpiece. 

Queen Amelie of Portugal’s Ruby Necklace

Queen Amelie of Portugal (1865-1951) received this captivating diamond and ruby necklace as a gift from her husband, King Carlos I of Portugal. Its design stems from the Art Nouveau style, showcasing free-flowing lines and forms highlighting the rubies’ vibrant hue. The gemstones in this piece are densely set, creating an even more regal appearance. Jewelry historians draw comparisons between this necklace and the late American socialite Barbara Hutton’s famous ruby tiara; some even believe that Hutton purchased Queen Amelie of Portugal’s necklace and had it reset into a tiara, although this is unconfirmed. 

Princess Mary’s Ruby Tiara

This gorgeous tiara is part of a parure, or suite of jewelry, including a ruby necklace, brooch, and hair ornament, belonging to the Danish crown jewels. In 1804, Queen Desideria of Sweden (1777-1860) commissioned it for the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris. Her daughter, Queen Josephine of Sweden, inherited the parure and later passed it down to her granddaughter, Princess Louise (1875-1906), upon her marriage to King Fredrick VIII of Denmark (1843-1912) — and it has remained a treasured part of the Danish crown jewels ever since. The tiara in particular has received widespread attention for its dreamy wreath-inspired design, with diamond-encrusted leaves and ruby-set “berries.” Queen of Denmark Mary Elizabeth, Countess of Monpezat (1972-present), has worn it numerous times — notably, during her pre-wedding events in 2004 and in her official royal portraits taken ahead of her 50th birthday in 2022. 

The Graff Ruby

The Graff Ruby is a showstopping ring with a gorgeous, unheated cushion-cut 8.62-carat Burmese ruby. Laurence Graff initially purchased the gemstone in 2005, naming it the Graff Ruby. A year later, Graff said, “The cut and spread of color is the finest I have ever seen.” Two trillion-cut diamonds surround the ruby of vivid red color and medium saturation, and the ring has small, brilliant-cut diamond embellishments. In 2014, the ruby and diamond ring sold for 8,285,000 CHF ($9.4 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva. 

How to Buy Ruby Jewelry

The ideal ruby is intensely saturated, has a reddish-purplish hue, and has few inclusions. When purchasing ruby jewelry, it’s important to keep in mind that rubies naturally have inclusions. Therefore, even the highest-quality rubies can have some inclusions, but they should be minimal and difficult to notice without intense magnification. Some rubies undergo heat treatment in order to improve their color. This process entails covering the rubies with borax, which melts into the stone’s fractures and cavities before hardening, to protect them from heat damage. Another common treatment is fracture filling. This involves dipping a ruby in oil and high-lead-content glass before heating it so the powder penetrates the ruby and hardens. Both treatments can make rubies falsely appear larger and heavier, so we don’t recommend purchasing treated rubies. 

If you’re wondering whether or not your ruby is treated, you can take it to a gemologist, who can evaluate it using specialized equipment. In general, La Patiala recommends buying untreated rubies with a vibrant red color and few inclusions because they’re rare products of nature — making them an invaluable part of any jewelry collection. 

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