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The owner is, coincidentally, a gemstone merchant who lives in the city of Ratnapura. The man was told of a strange light blue rock which was found by the workers, who were making repairs to the infrastructure of their land and had to dig a well.
“The person who was digging alerted us to some rare stones. Later we came across this huge specimen, ”he told the BBC. Game, as the owner of the stone was called to protect his identity.
The unusual discovery happened over a year ago, but has been informed now.
Gamage, whose family traded gemstones for three generations, it took over a year to clean the stone from mud and other impurities before the country’s authorities can analyze and certify it. It has not yet been reviewed by international experts.
During the cleaning process, Gamage said some stones fell from the cluster and turned out to be high quality star sapphires. However, experts also point out that although the specimen has a high carat value, it is possible that all stones in the group are not of high quality.
“I have never seen such a large specimen before. It probably formed around 400 million years ago.Dr. Gamini Zoysa, a renowned gemologist.
Ratnapura, which means city of gems in Sinhala dialect, is known as the capital of the country’s jewels from South Asia. Last year, Sri Lanka earned around $ 500 million from the export of gemstones, cut diamonds and jewelry.
Like all nations, the Asian country has seen its income affected by the Covid 19 pandemic and hopes that the “Sapphire of Serendipity” will now attract international buyers and experts.
“It is a special specimen of star sapphire, probably the largest in the world. Considering the size and its value, we think it will be of interest to private collectors or museums” he stated Thilak Weerasinghe, Chairman of the National Jewelery and Gems Authority of Sri Lanka.
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