Right ring: Kim Basinger

New York, April 21 (Reuters): Actor Kim Basinger yesterday sold her 3.7-carat diamond engagement ring from ex-husband Alec Baldwin for $59,750 to a Beverly Hills jewellery dealer, who predicted a fan would “pay crazy money for that”.

The actress, a noted animal rights activist, auctioned the modern Tiffany & Co. ring and some other jewellery at Christie’s to raise money for The Performing Animal Welfare Society.

The group runs a California refuge for abused, retired and surplus elephants, lions, bears and other captive wildlife.

The engagement ring, estimated to fetch between $30,000 and $40,000, was the top-priced item in the auction.

The only other gift from actor Baldwin, whose nine-year marriage to Basinger ended in 2002, on offer was a multi-gem necklace with a butterfly motif that went for $20,315. Christie’s had predicted it would fetch $8,000 to $10,000.

Yossi Dina of South Beverly Wilshire Jewellery & Loan bought the engagement ring, and spent $47,800 on Basinger’s elegant diamond bracelet in the Art Deco style.