Editing Sapphire (section)

===Large rubies and sapphires===
Large [[Ruby|rubies]] and sapphires of poor transparency are frequently used with suspect appraisals that vastly overstate their value. This was the case of the "Life and Pride of America Star Sapphire". Circa 1985, Roy Whetstine claimed to have bought the 1905-ct stone for $10 at the Tucson gem show, but a reporter discovered that L.A. Ward of Fallbrook, California, who appraised it at the price of $1200/ct, had appraised another stone of the exact same weight several years before Whetstine claimed to have found it.<ref name="Hughes-2001">{{cite journal| title=Digital Devil: Big Time| url=http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/dd_big_time.htm| last=Hughes| first=Richard W.| journal=[[GK Magazine]]| date=March 2001| volume=3| issue=4| access-date=5 November 2019| archive-date=17 September 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917175013/http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/dd_big_time.htm| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Bangkok-based [[Lotus Gemology]] maintains an updated listing of world auction records of ruby, sapphire, and [[spinel]]. As of November 2019, no sapphire has ever sold at auction for more than $17,295,796.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.lotusgemology.com/index.php/library/articles/160-ruby-sapphire-spinel-auction-records-under-the-hammer-lotus-gemology | title=Ruby, Sapphire & Spinel Auction Records | access-date=5 November 2019 | author=Hughes, Richard W. | archive-date=5 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105042632/https://www.lotusgemology.com/index.php/library/articles/160-ruby-sapphire-spinel-auction-records-under-the-hammer-lotus-gemology | url-status=live }}</ref>