Legendary Ceylon – The Land of Sapphires and Unmatched Bounty

Legendary Ceylon – The Land of Sapphires and Unmatched Bounty

The best of blue sapphires are the ones that came from the mountains of Kashmir. But now since that source has allegedly been dry for long, the best source for rich blue sapphires is Sri Lanka or Ceylon. The island nation of Sri Lanka has been long known as the land of jewels. In mythology, it is also known as Ratna-dweepa – a land so lush and rich with jewels of all kinds that its legends inspired many a dangerous expeditions to this Island Serendib.

It features in the adventures of Sindbad the sailor, who in his sixth voyage finds himself at the island of Ceylon and it is described thus – Now the Island Sarandib lieth under the equinoctial line, its night and day both numbering twelve hours. It measureth eighty leagues long by a breadth of thirty and its width is bounded by a lofty mountain and a deep valley. The mountain is conspicuous from a distance of three days, and it containeth many kinds of, rubies and other minerals, and spice trees of all sorts. The surface is covered with emery, wherewith gems are cut and fashioned; diamonds are in its rivers and pearls are in its valleys.

Sindbad himself was from the city of Basra, close to the Persian Gulf, which was the ancient trading centre for the best of precious natural pearls! Richard Hughes in his seminal book “Ruby and Sapphire” explains that the word serendipity, which means a sudden fortunate discovery or stumbling upon a treasure suddenly, is derived from the name of the island’s name Serendib – a place where the adventurers would stumble upon treasures every now and then!

Even today, the soil of southern Sri Lanka is so rich with natural treasures that sometime all people have to do is to look in their backyards and have a serendipitous moment.Fortunately or unfortunately, the main technique of gem exploration as well as mining in Sri Lanka is still the traditional methods – where gravel is run through water in troughs and baskets. The Ratnapura region was the first locality to mine sapphire on the island. Significant gem-mines throughout Sri Lanka are the Bibile, Elehara, Ratnapura, Metiyagoda, Morawaka, Nuwara Eliya and Pelmadulla sapphire mines.

Gravel sorting for gems in Sri lanka

The Ceylon Blue sapphire stands distinctly apart from its sapphires from other sources – with a watery crystal clarity and rich medium toned blue.

Selected Rings, Pendants and Talismans made available to Gemstoneuniverse.com patrons in February 2012

Gemstoneuniverse.com Table Natural Blue Sapphire Gemstone Facts

©Gemstoneuniverse.com, All rights reserved.

http://www.gemstoneuniverse.com

Gemstoneuniverse-The Gold Standard in Planetary Gemology