When a gold-and-turquoise ring once owned by celebrated English novelist Jane Austen appeared at auction last year, the UK's Jane Austen's House Museum came prepared to bid. One of only three pieces of Austen’s jewellery known to exist, the ring soared above its £30,000 reserve price to a winning bid of £152,450 (about $230,000) from American Idol crooner Kelly Clarkson.

The UK's cultural minister has since stepped in and declared the Austen ring a national treasure of importance. A temporary export ban is allowing Jane Austen's House Museum to raise money to buy the ring from Clarkson. The pop singer is a fan of the author and owns the final completed first edition of her novel Persuasion, but has agreed to sell the ring.

Recently, an anonymous donor gave the museum £100,000 pounds (about $150,000) and the clock is ticking to raise the remaining funds by December. After the export ban was announced and fundraising began on Friday, the museum netted a total £103,200 of the £152,450 asking price.

Austen's sister Cassandra received the ring upon the author's death at age 41 in 1817.

The museum is housed in Austen's residence in Hampshire, England.