Sri
Lanka with a Gem mining history
of over 2500 years, has throughout
the centuries been known as
Island of Gems and "Ratnadveepa".
This land called "Mani
Vayiru" in tamil meaning
one having Gems in her womb.
It has been estimated that nearly
nine tenths of the island is
capable of yielding gems. Most
of the world famous fien blue
sapphires came and coming only
from Sri Lanka. Most of the
Sapphires in museum collections
around the world are from the
gravels of Sri Lanka.
Publicity
about the gems through our countrys
stamps worldwide has to be considered
very useful. Although we had
a number of varieties of gems
we have depicted only five gemstones
on stamps. Four of them belong
to the Corundum family. First
four stamps were issued in 1976.
Out
of these four, three stones
are from the Corundum family.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary
of the implementation of the
National Gem & Jewelry Authority
Act, Blue Sapphire was declared
as the National Gemstone of
Sri Lanka. Philatelic Bureau
of Department of posts issued
a new Postage Stamp in the denomination
of Rs. 4.50 on 21st October
2003. Sri Lanka had been the
first and the foremost production
centre for the natural Corundum
stones from the time immemorial.
Corundum
is the crystalline form of aluminum
Oxide. It has different colors
when impurities are present.
Pure corundum is colorless often
called white Sapphire. Chromic
oxide causes brilliant red,
called Rubies. The name Ruby
is derived from the Latin word
"RUBENS" meaning "red".
Titanium Oxide produces vivid
blue Sri Lankan Sapphires which
are universally renowned for
their magnificent quality and
large sizes. Star Sapphire which
cut in cabochon style displays
a six rayed star on top of the
cabochon surface. The biggest
of all the Star Sapphires which
have been cut & polished,
is the Star of India 563 Carats.
Though it is called Star of
India, it was actually found
in Sri Lanka. Star of Lanka
393 carats stone has a reputation
of being the third largest Star
Sapphire of similar quality
in existance, which is a deep
blue stone having a prominent
start effect. This is owned
by the National Gem & Jewelry
Authority of Sri Lanka.
Chrysoberyl
is a Yellowish Green, transparent
to translucent cymophane which
is popularly known as catseye.
This variety exhibits pleasing
chatoyancy that reminds one
of an eye of a cat. When cut
to produce a cabochon, the mineral
forms a light green specimen
with silky band of light extending
across the surface of the stone.
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