The Treasure Island

Sri Lanka is one of the most popular sources of fine quality gemstones. From following traditional methods be it lapidary or jewellery making, to using the latest technology in the business, Sri Lankan gems and jewellery industry has come a long way.

Sri Lanka is known for its gemstones unique in quality and variety for over 2,500 years. It was affectionately known as ‘Ratna-Dweepa’, meaning Gem Island. The name is a reflection of its natural wealth. Marco Polo wrote that the island had the best sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and other gems in the world while Ptolemy, the 2nd century astronomer, recorded that beryl and sapphire were the mainstays of Sri Lanka’s gem industry.

The rarest and the most valuable gems are found in this country. The gem selling industry is widespread here to meet the local and international demand for gems.

According to the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) statistics, Sri Lanka exported gold jewellery and gems worth Rs. 2.33 billion in 2017. However, according Gem and Jewellery exporters, foreign exchange earnings from jewellery and gem sales to tourists are much higher, amounting approximately US$100 million annually.

Sri Lanka’s gem industry, for which sapphire is the main export, is worth at least £70m ($103m) annually.According to Industry Capability Report of Export (2013) Development Board of Sri Lanka, there are around 300 exporters of gems, and jewellery which fall under the categories of large, medium and small. Most of the exporters are SMEs and they are scattered across the country.

Island of Gemstones
Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon or Serendib) has a heritage for gem mining and trading that dates back to 2000 years. Precious and enticing range of blue sapphires, star sapphires, rubies, star rubies, alexandrites, cat’s eyes, garnets, zircons, tourmalines and spinels of unsurpassed quality and quantities have been delivered consistently from this island nation.

Gem deposits in Sri Lanka can be categorized into three main groups - Residual deposits – Okkampiiya; Elluvial deposits – Elahera and; Alluvial deposits – Ratnapura. The dominant gem mineral is corundum, specially the great varieties of sapphires, rubies and geuda. Majority of the gem deposits are secondary alluvial gravels and contain a range of gem minerals with local and regional variations in relative abundance.

Amongst the exceptional gemstones that Sri Lanka has produced in the contemporary era are the Blue Giant of the Orient (466-carats), Logan Blue Sapphire (423-carats), Blue Belle of Asia (400-carats), Rossar Reeves Star Ruby (138.7-carats), Star of Lanka (393-carats Star Sapphire) Ray of Treasure (105-carats Cat’s Eye). The first three gemstones are on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, USA.

Blue Sapphire
Blue Sapphire found in Sri Lanka is known for its beauty and for being one of the few sapphires in the world that can be sold as a completely natural stone without heat treatment. Sri Lankan sapphires also come in beautiful hues including pink, yellow,orange, green, purple, lavender and of course, the inimitable padparadscha sapphire which was named after the lotus. All these highly marketable qualities of blue sapphires have created a brand recognition for the stones worldwide.

According to Wikipedia, the Star of Adam is an oval-shaped blue star sapphire, currently the largest star sapphire in the world. It weighs 1,404.49 carats (280.898 g; 9.9084 oz). This very large star sapphire was discovered in Ratnapura (known by the nickname “City of Gems”), in southern Sri Lanka, in August 2015. The stone is a blue ‘star’ sapphire owing to the bright six-pointed star that appears whenever light is reflected on the stone’s surface. Estimates of the stone’s value range from the $100-$175 million range to as much as $300 million. This single stone is worth the annual gem industry of Sri Lanka, which averages $103 million per year in exports.

Gemstone Mining
Gemstone mining as a traditional industry in Sri Lanka runs way back to the era of ancient kings. The traditional, environmental friendly and ethical mining methods practiced under the regulatory supervision of the NGJA have set many benchmarks in the international Gemstone Mining Arena. Over the years, traditional mining methods have been perfected to avoid incidents of mining accidents. Gem mining activities are concentrated mainly in the districts of Ratnapura, Matale, Badulla and Moneragala.

The most commonly used gemstone mining method in Sri Lanka is Pit-Head Mining and Tunneling. Surface Placer Mining and River Bed Dredging are the other methods used widely. Surface Placer Mining: This is a technique where the pay gravel is in superficial soil layers within a few feet from the surface; for example in the bottom slopes of relatively high undulating ground, the land is worked by open cast mining (quarrying) after the removal of any vegetation. The gravel which is rarely thick orextensive in such occurrences is excavated and washed in running water in a nearby stream or in improvised sluices resulting in the removal of light materials such as sand and clay leaving the heavy residues from which the gemstone material is handpicked by the experienced miner.

River Bed Dredging:
The simplest type of mine workings are the river dredgings which are developed around the exploitation of present day stream gravels and ‘illam’ exposed during down cutting and erosion by the river or stream. In their simplest form, the dredging operation involves raking up the river gravel or illam into a shallow pile using a long handled iron rake-like tool known locally as a ‘mammoty’, and letting the river wash away the fines.

Lapidiary Industry
Sri Lanka’s lapidary industry is as old as gemstone mining in Sri Lanka. Until the early 1970s, cutting and polishing of gems were performed using a traditional machine called Hanaporuwa. Gem cutting machinery too has improved vastly with modern faceting machines and many accessory machinery for calibrating, sawing and performance efficiency.

Jewellery Industry
The jewellery manufacturing industry at present employs approximately 15,000 persons of which around 10,000 are registered individual craftsmen while the rest are employed in factories and workshops producing jewellery mainly for the export market. There may be around 1,500 unregistered employees working under registered craftsmen. About 60 per cent of the jewellery workshops and craftsmen are located mainly in the rural areas of Southern and Central provinces and in pockets in the North Western, Eastern and Northern provinces. 30 per cent and 10 per cent of the jewellery workshops are located in Suburban and Urban areas respectively. The jewellery manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka mainly consists of three sectors: manufacturing for exports, local market and tourists’ trade. Sri Lanka’s main markets for jewellery are China, Japan, Germany, USA, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. In the recent times, silver jewellery studded with semi- precious moonstones and stones that are slightly precious have gained popularity.

Regulatory Bodies
National Gem & Jewellery Authority: The NGJA was established for the development, regulation and promotion of the gem and jewellery industry in Sri Lanka. It was set up to provide for the establishment of institutions to promote development. All export parcels are channeled through the NGJA where they are tested for genuineness by a panel consisting of ‘NGJA’ and Sri Lanka Customs Gemologists. Gem mining is carried out on both private and state land after obtaining permission from the owners and the state authorities. The sole licensing authority for gem mining in Sri Lanka is the NGJA.

Trade Shows
Facets Sri Lanka FACETS Sri Lanka plays a pivotal role in making Colombo a regional gem & jewellery hub and Sri Lanka the “Sapphire Capital of the World”. Held annually in Colombo since 1991 with state and private sector patronage, FACETS Sri Lanka 2018, the 28th international gem & jewellery Show is likely to have hundreds of local and foreign exhibitors showcasing their gem and jewellery products and a large number of influential trade visitors from around the world.