HPJ CONNOISSEURS PORTFOLIO: OUTSTANDING VERY RARE 1.68 CARAT VVS 'CEYLON BLUE' SRI LANKA SAPPHIRE

WORLD CLASS STUNNING 1.68 CARAT VVS RARE ‘CEYLON BLUE’ SRI LANKA NATURAL SAPPHIRE

GEM TYPE: NATURAL SAPPHIRE

CARAT WEIGHT: 1.68 CARATS

DIMENSIONS: 7.50 x 5.50 x 4.40mm

CLARITY: VVS

COLOUR: CEYLON BLUE

CUT: OVAL

ORIGIN: RATNAPURA, SRI LANKA

TREATMENTS: ROUTINE HEAT ONLY. NO OTHER TREATMENTS

A rare Sapphire indeed - only conventional heat, and of course a highly desired 'Ceylon Blue'.

Ratnapura (Singhalese for ‘gem town’) lies about 100 kilometers southeast of Colombo. Its mining region has produced an incredible variety of gemstones, many of them outstanding in comparison with stones from other regions.

Marco Polo wrote of his visit in 1292: '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'

Its gemstones, however, seem to occur in endless supply. Known as the “Jewel Box of the Indian Ocean,” Sri Lanka, like possibly no other locality on earth, has yielded precious stones and fine gems in a great profusion of gem species and varieties.

The island was known in the ancient world as Taprobane (copper colored in Greek). Native Veddahs, bathing in smooth flowing streams, noticed colored pebbles scattered in sandy bottoms. It was not until 500 B.C. that conquering Buddhists from northern India also discovered gems in the rivers and began to set rough stones into crude jewelry. They bartered stones with traders from abroad and eventually the treasures found their way to the marketplaces of Asia and Europe. Ancient Greek and Chinese historians referred to the beautiful gems of Ceylon, and King Solomon reportedly wooed the Queen of Sheba with Ceylonese precious stones.