💎 Sri Lanka: a journey into the world of precious stones 💍
Sapphires and rubies, topazes and garnets – Sri Lanka is full of jewels. In ancient times, the island was even called Ratnadvipa, which means “land of gems”. Even now, about 80% of the country’s territory is classified as potential deposits of valuable stones.
It is worth paying tribute to the landscapes – they became a balm for the soul. But it’s better to get to Ratnapura by car, not by bus!
Adventure 2: Getting to know the city
Ratnapura is a fairly large settlement, about 50 thousand people live in it. And here, let me remind you, is the main deposit of precious stones. What a surprise it was to see in the city center, instead of streets with high-rise buildings and restaurants, crumbling buildings and a lack of catering. We barely found somewhere to eat. The hotel also turned out to be creepy. Have you watched “Shantaram”? It was like I was in the poor part of Bombay from the series. In short, this is not a touristic place at all – be prepared for that.
The road, food, check-in – and it got dark outside. I had to postpone the search for precious stones until the morning. Although we already had plans for the next day – we had to be on the other side of the foot of Adam's Peak to climb the famous mountain. But my adventure companions did not lose heart, they joked that thanks to me they now know what the “ass of the world” looks like.
Adventure 3: Search for mining sites
Ratnapura has a Gem Museum ( Ratnapura Gemmological Museum). In it you can see a huge collection of gems. The gadfly's tour in English will tell you the path the stones take from being discovered in the ground to ending up in jewelry , and will demonstrate various photos and exhibits. By the way, the museum has a store where you can buy precious stones found in the city.
But a museum is a museum. I went to Ratnapura to see the mining of gems with my own eyes. We took a tuk-tuk and headed to the Kaluganga River, where the excavations are taking place. It turned out that the small huts were the entrances to the mine tunnels. We were lucky to meet an English-speaking man at one of them, who kindly agreed to show us the process of extracting stones and take them to the factory where they are processed and turned into jewelry.
Mining and processing of gems
There are about 200 types of precious stones known in the world, more than 70 of them are kept in the lands of Sri Lanka. Many rubies, amethysts, alexandrites, cat's eyes, moonstones, aquamarines, topazes, zircons, garnets and even diamonds are found here. But blue sapphires are considered the symbol of Ceylon.
The largest sapphire in the world was found in Ratnapura, at the foot of Adam's Peak. It weighs almost 280 grams and has 1404 carats. Who owns it is hiding. I haven’t earned enough money for such a stone yet, but I couldn’t leave the city without a gift – I spent my entire salary on these earrings.
People from all over the island come to Ratnapura with dreams of wealth. Work in the mines is hard and unhealthy. Prospectors explore layers of gravel by digging tunnels near riverbeds or in rice fields. The dug rock is lifted upward using ropes in special palm baskets. Sand is easily washed out of such a braid, and stones remain at the bottom.
Next, the stones need to be sorted. How many of them will turn out to be valuable is unknown—sometimes, none. Therefore, most miners can barely make ends meet.
The mined goods are sold at auctions or delivered to the factory. We were taken to Priyantha gems to show how gems are processed. It turned out that it was also done manually!
The golden hands of Sri Lankan cutters are highly valued in the world. Local residents not only work in local factories, but also serve famous world brands such as Rolex, Mont Blanc, Bvlgari, Tiffany, Cartier.
There are three gem markets in Ratnapura: Amba Gaha Yata Gem Market, Demuwawatha Gem Market and Clock Tower Gem Market. They mainly sell uncut stones. But if you see finished products, do not rush to purchase them – you may get a fake. To buy jewelry, you should go to government stores, where the product comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Now you know about the extraction of Ceylon gems, but what about Ceylon tea? I talked about him in a separate article. And here I shared the best places for a beach holiday in Sri Lanka. You can visit the paradise island on a visa-free tour, which will definitely make your preparation for the trip easier.