From time immemorial Sri Lanka has had a sparkling reputation for highly treasured gems. Nature in her bounty has chosen the bosom of Sri Lanka to enshrine some of her rarest treasures. Blue Sapphires, Cat's Eyes, Alexandrites, Rubies, Star stones found embedded in layer of gravel and sand, in river beds, marshes, fields or accumulated at the foot of hills have made Sri Lanka the renowned island for gems. These precious stones perfected in the laboratory of nature lay hidden of countless ages, their luster undimmed, their value unrecognized. And led by Dame Fortune, the rare gem emerges genuine and unequaled by any artifice of man. Perhaps nowhere in the world are so many minerals of the gem variety concentrated in so compact an area in such abundance as in Sri Lanka.
Though Sri Lanka's gem trade dates back in to hoary historical times our gem supplies are almost in exhaustible for the gem bearing pre-Cambrian Stratum forms 9/10ths of Sri Lanka's earth Geologists aver.
The Blue Sapphire is Sri Lanka's Gem Supreme. And Sri Lanka's Blue Sapphires are the finest in the world. Sapphires of the finest quality have what is called the experts 'a corn flower blue' or a royal blue tint. The highly priced of all gems, the Blue Sapphire is second only to the diamond in hardness. The largest known Sapphires in the world weighing 42 pounds was found in the gem gravels of Sri Lanka. The Blue Giant of the Orient weighing nearly 500 carats and the 400 carat Blue Belle of Asia was purchased by a British multi-millionaire was also from Sri Lanka. A perfect corn flower blue 92 carat specimen is now on display at the State Gem Corporation. The world jewelry market demands Blue Sapphires of 5-15 carats. Sri Lanka can supply these in very large quantities.
Sri Lanka's Star Sapphires is the star beauty among Earth's precious stones. The radiant snowy streaks that gleam in her azure heart are perhaps the solidified version of a colourful dream the world has had long ago of the glory of the universe. The 362 carat Star now with the State Gem Corporation is considered the third largest stone of comparable quality and colour in the world. But the most celebrated Sri Lanka's star Sapphire is on permanent display at the Smithsonian museum of Natural History in New York. However, Sri Lanka has not gotten the recognition it deserves as the stone is named (Probably through an oversight) the Star of Bombay. Arthur C. Clarke the famous Space Scientist and Futurologist in his epilogue of Rolof Beny's Island Ceylon comments.......... "and by some distressing impertinence the splendid Star Sapphire which is one of the glories of American Museum of Natural History's gem collection is called the Star of Bombay - not as it should be - the Star of Ceylon."
Moonstone the only gem that is found in situ in Sri Lanka displays a milky bluish sheen similar to that of the moon beams, and hence the name moonstone. Trough some quirk of nature, moonstones are found only in a solitary quarter acre block of land in the village of Meetiyagoda to the South of Sri Lanka. The world's moonstone market is dominated by Sri Lanka.