Former child star Shirley Temple's diamond ring fails to sell at auction

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Child star Shirley Temple's rare blue diamond ring fails to find a buyer at auction on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - A 9.54-carat rare blue diamond ring once belonging to the late Shirley Temple, one of Hollywood's most famous child actors, failed to sell at a New York auction on Tuesday (April 19), where it had been estimated to fetch between US$25 million (S$33.5 million) and US$35 million.

The Sotheby's auction for the Fancy Deep Blue Diamond ring, purchased by Temple's father for US$7,210 in 1940, around the time of the actress' 12th birthday, opened bidding at US$19 million and closed at US$22 million, which was below the ring's reserve price.

The ring was the highlight at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels sale, which fetched nearly US$30 million across more than 300 lots.

Temple won legions of fans as a bouncy, curly-haired young actress in the 1930s. She went on to forge a career as ambassador Shirley Temple Black and died at the age of 85 in 2014.

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