The
recent official statement issued
by the Gemological Institute
of America Research (GIA) with
its findings on controversial
heated Blue Sapphires has cleared
doubts in the minds of the Gem
trade worldwide said Chairman,
Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery
Authority Rusirupala Tennakoon
at a press conference held in
Colombo on Monday.
He
cleared three major doubts that
people had with regard to this
issue. Firstly, whether beryllium
being used as defusing material
secondly whether the process
leads to a synthetic overgrowth
which change original structure,
and finally whether they use
some foreign material which
changes the stone.
All
these doubts have been now been
cleared, he said. However further
investigations are being carried
out by researchers to identify
definite reasons for this phenomenon.
According
to the Chairman, the Gem Industry
brought Rs. 5,663 million in
foreign exchange to the country
in 2002 which is about 85 per
cent from Blue Sapphire alone.
When GIA pointed out the unusual
phenomenon in March 2003 for
the first time the world market
became very concerned but the
authority is yet to estimate
the damage caused to the industry
by the issue. R.K. |
