Sri Lanka finds ‘world’s largest sapphire’ worth $100 million

Sri Lankan authorities have said that a huge sapphire valued at $100 million was discovered by workers digging a well in the backyard of a home in the country.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the 2.5 million carat gemstone, believed to be the world’s largest sapphire, was discovered behind the house of a stone dealer in Ratnapura.

World's largest sapphire cluster worth $100M found in a backyard 😱 https://t.co/1OmBT94hzm pic.twitter.com/rLxtzlUNTO

— New York Post (@nypost) July 27, 2021

The owner of the jewel, who only revealed his nickname, Gamaj, said: “The person who was digging the well alerted us to the presence of some rare stones. Later, we found this huge specimen.”

Gamaj notified the authorities of the discovery, but it took more than a year to clean the stone before they could certify it.
Although the city where the sapphire was found is known as the gem capital of the world, the discovery still astounds experts.

Dr Gamine Zwisa, a senior gemologist, told the BBC: “I’ve never seen such a large specimen before, this stone was probably formed about 400 million years ago.”

Experts pointed out that the value of the stone, which was called “coincidence sapphire”, reaches 100 million dollars.

“It is a special specimen of star sapphire (which shows a star-like focus of reflected or refracted light), and it is probably the largest in the world. Given its size and value, we think it will be of interest to collectors or private museums,” explained Thilac Weirasinghe, president of the National Gem and Jewelery Authority. .

Source: The New York Post