55.22-carat ruby is poised to become the largest — and should it sell for over $30.3 million, the most valuable — gem of its kind ever to appear at auction.

The stone is set to go under the hammer in New York in June, less than a year after Canadian firm Fura Gems discovered it at one of its mines in Mozambique.

Announcing the sale, Sotheby’s described the jewel as “exceedingly rare” and “the most valuable and important” ruby ever to come to market. Named Estrela de Fura (or Star of Fura in Mozambique’s official language, Portuguese), the stone is expected to fetch “in excess of” $30 million, the auction house said.

Although record gemstone sales are dominated by diamonds — colored ones, in particular — rubies are also considered among the world’s rarest and most valuable gemstones. The current auction record for a ruby was set by the Sunrise Ruby, a 25.59-carat stone found in Myanmar that fetched $30.3 million in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2015.

Estrela de Fura was cut from a rough stone that made headlines when it was unearthed by miners last July. Originally weighing 101 carats, almost twice as much as in its current form, it was the largest gem-quality ruby ever discovered.

The huge stone was cut into a smaller symmetrical shape and polished, processes that remove impurities and enhance the color and brilliance of a gemstone before it is put onto the market. According to Sotheby’s, a report from the Swiss Gemmological Institute said that this had “resulted in vivid red hues due to multiple internal reflections.”

In a statement, Fura Gems’ founder and CEO, Dev Shetty, said stones of such size and quality are “almost unheard of.”

“From the in-depth analysis and study of the stone — through the process of cutting and polishing — we have worked with the utmost care and respect for the ruby, recognizing its importance and stature,” he added.

Although rubies were first discovered in Mozambique several decades ago, a significant industry only emerged after 2009, when a huge deposit of stones were found near the northern city of Montepuez. Mozambique is now one of the world’s most productive ruby-mining countries.

Estrela de Fura was among the stones unearthed from the region. Sotheby’s described it as possessing “outstanding clarity” and a dark red color known as “pigeon’s blood” — a hue more traditionally associated with highly sought-after Burmese rubies.

The auction house’s head of jewelry for the Americas, Quig Bruning, said in a statement that the ruby could help African stones compete with, “and even outshine” those from Myanmar (the country formerly known as Burma).

The ruby will feature in Sotheby’s “Magnificent Jewels” sale, which will be headlined by a 10.57 carat pink diamond, The Eternal Pink, that is expected to fetch over $35 million. Unveiled last week, the “ultra-rare” gem was described by the auction house as possessing “unparalleled color and brightness.”

Both precious stones will be exhibited in various cities, including Dubai, Singapore and Geneva, before heading to New York for June’s auction.

A delicate porcelain bowl, measuring under 4.5 inches in diameter, sold for more than $25 million during a bumper week of Chinese art sales in Hong Kong.

Described by auction house Sotheby’s as “highly important,” the antique hails from a rare group of ceramics decorated at Beijing’s imperial workshops in the 18th century.

The bowl was produced during the time of the Yongzheng Emperor, who ruled China from 1722 to 1735 (though the enamel was likely painted shortly after his death). It is part of a tradition known as “falangcai,” or “foreign colors,” a name given to porcelain originating from the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen but enameled by artisans in Beijing’s Forbidden City.

Fetching 198.2 million Hong Kong dollars ($25.3 million) on Saturday, the bowl depicts two swallows, a blooming apricot tree and a willow. The design also features an excerpt from a poem thought to have been commissioned by Yongzheng’s Ming dynasty predecessor, the Wanli Emperor.

In the auction catalog, ceramics expert Regina Krahl said that motifs featuring birds and flowers were popular in the Yongzheng period. She also described the bowl as among a small group of items representing “the peak of painting on porcelain, an artistry that was never surpassed.”

“Pieces painted with such sparse and refined nature motifs as seen here, ‘wrapped’ around the vessel like an unrolled handscroll, were done in Beijing for only a very short period,” she wrote, adding that most of the remaining examples are now held in the Palace Museum in Taiwan.

Once part of a pair, the item was first recorded in a collection assembled by Shanghai-based shipping merchant Captain Charles Oswald Liddell in the late 19th century. The two bowls were split up in 1929, when they were each sold for £150 (amounting to just over £7,600, or $9,400, in today’s money). The bowl’s “twin” is held now at the British Museum in London, Sotheby’s said.

The one sold on Saturday meanwhile passed hands several times over the decades, with previous owners including the American socialite Barbara Hutton. It was most recently acquired by businesswoman and collector Alice Cheng, who purchased it for a then-record 151.32 million Hong Kong dollars (19.3 million) in 2006.

The piece was among the standout lots in Sotheby’s Hong Kong spring series, a succession of high-profile sales marking 50 years since the auction house began operating in Asia. Other auctions spanned watches, handbags and vintage wines, while the various Chinese art sales fetched a combined 1.64 billion Hong Kong dollars ($208.5 million).

Historical items on sale included vases, statues and imperial treasures ranging from a jade seal to a set of archers’ rings.

Among the biggest sellers was a blue and white vessel known as a ewer, which sold for 107.5 million Hong Kong dollars ($13.7 million). Dating back to the Ming Dynasty, the porcelain antique was produced for the Yongle Emperor’s personal use.

Elsewhere, paintings and works of calligraphy also attracted multi-million-dollar bids. On Wednesday, a 1973 painting by Chinese-born painter Zhang Daqian, “Pink Lotuses on Gold Screen”, fetched 251.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($32 million). Though not a household name in the West, Zhang — who is often known as the “Picasso of the East” — is consistently among the art market’s most bankable artists.

In a statement, Sotheby’s Asia chair Nicolas Chow described the week’s results as “exceptional,” adding that Chinese art remains “at the forefront of our business.”

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN)  says it generated N441 million from tickets sold across the country in March 2023.

The National Chairman of CEAN, Opeyemi Ajayi, disclosed this in an interview in Lagos on Monday.

Ajayi said the total admission of viewers into cinemas across the federation for the period under review was 174,071.

“For March, we had total sales of N441,752,914 across all cinema with 174,071 viewers admission into cinemas.

“Sales in March was encouraging compared with February when we recorded total sales of N278 million due to activities of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, as well as the national problem of cash crunch’’.

Seven UK sites – including one in its overseas territories – are in the running to win UNESCO World Heritage status.

The ancient city of York, The Zenith of Iron Age Shetland in Scotland and The Little Cayman Marine Parks and Protected Areas, in the UK overseas territory of the Cayman Islands, are among the standouts on the list.

Birkenhead Park in Merseyside, in north west England, is also a popular addition. The park opened in 1847 as a pioneering project to bring greenery to urban environments; it’s since inspired the creation of green spaces across the world, including New York’s iconic Central Park.

A golf ball Tiger Woods gave to a young fan during the final round of his victorious 1997 Masters tournament has sold for $64,124, auction house Golden Age Auctions said.

Woods bogeyed the fifth hole and handed the ball to Julian Nexsen, who was nine-years-old at the tie. Bidding for the Titleist ball, which has ‘Tiger’ stamped on it, began at $500 when Nexsen put it up for auction on March 27, the auction site said.

Woods, then 21, won the first of his 15 major titles in stunning fashion at the 1997 Masters with a record margin of 12 strokes and became the youngest golfer to triumph at Augusta National.

“Unless Tiger himself or his caddie Fluff intentionally saved a ball from this historic final round (which we doubt), this may be the only confirmed golf ball from the final round of Tiger Woods’ first major championship victory,” Golden Age Auctions said.

According to the auctioneers, “dozens of people” witnessed the moment Woods handed the ball to Nexsen. It also featured in the Washington Times newspaper the next day.

Nexsen has signed a legal declaration certifying the authenticity of the golf ball and the story of his final round interaction with Woods.

Woods, 47, withdrew from this year’s Masters due to injury before the resumption of the third round, saying he had reaggravated a tissue inflammation that causes pain in the heel.