VietNamNet Bridge – The first ruby owned by the Vietnamese state was sold to a Thai businessman at the price of $290,000 at an auction a decade ago. The auction is part of the history of Vietnam’s jewelry industry.

Tan Huong is the gemstone mine where this giant ruby of 2160 gram was found. The mine is located in Yen Bai province in northern Vietnam.

Engineer Nguyen Van Che, director of the Yen Bai Gemstone JS Company, still remembers the early day of the mine 14 years ago. At that time, Che was the chief technician of the Yen Bai Gold and Gemstone Company, which managed the Tan Huong mine.

Che was in charge of the exploration of the mine since 1996. In 1997, his company unveiled an ore seam which had ruby reserves worth around VND200 million (millions of US dollars at that time). One day, workers discovered a block of rock with strange color which was as big as two fists. The rock was handed over to the Vietnam Gold and Gemstone Corporation.

The corporation chief sent his assistant and some senior experts to Yen Bai to inspect the rock, which was then brought to Hanoi under police protection.

The corporation officials met with the Prime Minister to directly introduce the gemstone rock to him. The corporation was instructed to process the rock.

Most experienced experts were assigned todo the job, The rock turned out to be a giant ruby of the best quality, more expensive than a diamond. The ruby is 290 carats.

The Vietnam Gold and Gemstone Corporation set up a council to assess the ruby but the council members couldn’t reach an agreement. Some said the ruby was worth $20,000, some said $30,000 or $40,000. In a secret ballot, one said the ruby might be priced at hundreds of thousands of USD if it is processed and sold abroad.

The corporation had to invite experts from Myanmar to evaluate the ruby. The foreign expert praised the quality of the ruby and said the price would be at least $250,000 if it is auctioned in

Myanmar.

In an auction in Myanmar in October 1997, the giant ruby was sold to a Thai business at the price of $290,000. At that time, Myanmar was under the US embargo? so the money was transferred to Vietnam via the Vietnamese Embassy in Rangoon.

However, it is said that the ruby would have been sold at a higher price if Vietnam had more experience in such deals.

PV