Sri Lanka’s gem industry has a very long and colorful history. Sri Lanka was affectionately known as Ratna – Dweepa which means Gem Island. The name is a reflection of its natural wealth. Marco Polo in 1292 wrote “I want you to understand that the island of Ceylon is, for its size, the finest island in the world, and from its streams comes rubies, sapphires, topazes, amethyst and garnet”. Ptolemy, the second century astronomer recorded that beryl and sapphire were the mainstay of Sri Lanka’s gem industry. Records from sailors that visited the island states that they brought back “jewels of Serendib”. Serendib was the ancient name given to the island by middle – eastern and Persian traders that crossed the Indian Ocean to trade gems from Sri Lanka to the East during the fourth and fifth century. A selection of gemstone pebbles made by tumbling rough rock with abrasive grit, in a rotating drum. ... Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer (presumably of noble origins from Sebenico and Curzola in Dalmatia) who, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China (which he called... A medieval artists rendition of Claudius Ptolemaeus Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; c. ... Beryl var. ... Sapphire (from Hebrew: ספּיר Sapir) is the single-crystal form of aluminium oxide (Al2O3), a mineral known as corundum. ... The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala / இலங்கை in Tamil) (known as Ceylon before 1972) is a tropical island nation off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau (Irān - Land of the Aryans) and beyond. ...

Sri Lanka, geologically speaking is a very old country. Ninety percent of the rocks of the island are of Precambrian age, 560 million to 2,400 million years ago. The gems form in sedimentary residual gem deposits, eluvial deposits, metamorphic deposits, skarn and calcium-rich rocks. Other gems are of magmatic origin. The Precambrian is an informal name for the eons of the geologic timescale that came before the current Phanerozoic eon. ... Two types of sedimentary rock: limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... The term Metamorphic can be associated with a number of meanings:- Metamorphic rock The term for rocks that have been transformed by extreme heat and pressure. ... Skarn is a fine grained metamorphic rock that is usually variably colored green or red, occasionally grey, black, brown or white. ... Magma is molten rock located beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other rocky planet), and which often collects in a magma chamber. ...

Residual deposits are mainly found in flood plains of rivers and streams. The metamorphic types of gems constitute 90% of the gem deposits in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the highest density of gem deposits compared to its landmass. Ratnapura contains the most gem deposits and derived its name from the gem industry. Ratnapura means “city of gems”. Ratnapura (?? in Sinhala; இரத்தினபுரி in Tamil) (meaning The city of gems in Sinhala & Tamil) is the chief town in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. ...

The blue sapphires from Sri Lanka are known as Ceylon Sapphire. Ceylon Sapphires are reportedly unique in colour, clarity and lustre compared to the blue sapphires from other countries. Sapphire (from Hebrew: ספּיר Sapir) is the single-crystal form of aluminium oxide (Al2O3), a mineral known as corundum. ...