Gem Stone Tour by Ceylontusker Tours.
Gem Stone tour of Sri Lanka, not only allow you to learn about the Gem stones that are taken from the earth and rivers but also allow you to watch how they are polished and cut in to shining pieces. In one way you can say this as an educational tour where you will have the chance to view about the polished and cut gem stones, how the raw stones looks along with the chance to view the mining and the cutting process. Lot of past participants had expressed their satisfaction about this tour to us and are ready to recommend it to you..
These gem tours mostly attract Chinese mainland tourists, American and Japanese tourist along with European participants whom used to take part in this tour due to its value and awareness. This gem stone tour will provide good knowledge about the Sri Lanka gem stones to the participants which will be a valuable one when they happens to deal with valuable gem stones in their countries.
For more information on this Gem stone Tour
1. Use the form in the right side of this Blog.
2. Contact Email: chinthaka3624@gmail.com
3. Call: 0094776685331
9 Gem stone set called as Navaratna.
About the Tour.
This tour will cover every aspects involved in the gem industry from Gem mining to Gem Stone trading that used to take place in Sri Lanka. Nowhere you can find such a special tour like this one that we provide you here.
We will pick you from the airport to the hotel.
We will make arrangements for you to stay in 3 star class hotel.
Hotels will serve Breakfast. European meals will be available in hotels while in gem villages, we will find suitable eatery that serves hygienic Sri Lanka meals.
Transportation will be provided by A/C Car or A/C Van depending the number of group people.
English speaking driver/guide will accompany you.
We will take you to meet Gem experts and reputed Gem dealers.
(It is not necessary to buy any Gems from them.
If you are interested in buying a Gem stone for you, then we will take you to an astrologer, who will suggest you the lucky stone that you must wear. We in Sri Lanka believe these Gem stones will bring prosperity and wealth, if it is selected and worn as ornament according to the person's Astrological predictions.)
After the tour you can continue to explore Sri Lanka or we will take you back to airport.
To whom this Sri Lanka Gem Tours is good for?
This is good for people who are interested in adventure like tours and want to know about gem stones.
But special for those gem merchants, Jewelers, gem collectors and wealthy people who may like to stock gems for future sale.
What this tour includes?
Visiting the Gem Pits in the villages.
Visiting place where river dredging take place to find gem stones.,
Watch how they find out stones from the field and rivers.
Visit to the lapidary to view how they cut and polish Gem stones.
Gem varieties and identification information on the stones that are available here..
Gem buying guide.(Grading, weighing, clarity, luster and many more according to gem experts.)
Gem Stone certification.( How the laboratories offer Gem certificates.)
How to export them to your country. (If you had bought any gem stones here that can be exported through Courier passing through Sri Lanka customs and Gem Corporation with insurance coverage.)
Visit one of the popular Gem museum where you can find rarest stones with different cuts and sizes. .
Interested? Contact Mr.Dayan Chinthaka through email chinthaka3624@gmail.com
Typical gem stone mining pit.
Most of the gem pits are located in the Ratnapura area and in rivers.
If you like you can go deep in to the pits to watch the live action over there. Here gem mining is carried out as God's gift. So before to start the project auspicious time will be taken from the Astrologer to commence the work. Then a Pooja ceremony will be carried out at the site to start with the project. Skilled labors and material will be brought for to dig the pit and to make it safe for human beings to work in side of it. Gem mining expert will be brought in to search the "illam" for valuable raw stones. Their expert eyes will look for them through the muddy water and gravel.
Gem Stone Cutting and Polishing in Lapidary
Sri Lanka is famous for these types of Gem stones.
Blue Sapphire,
White Sapphire,
Star Sapphire,
Yellow Sapphire,
Pink Sapphire,
Orange Sapphire,
Padmaraga Sapphire,
Star Ruby,
Alexandrite Cat's eye,
Chrysoberyl Cat's eye,
Alexandrite,
Chrysoberyl,
Ruby,
Amethyst,
Aquamarine,
Beryl,
Rhodolite Garnet,
Spinel,
Pyrope Garnet,
Citrene,
Topaz,
Hessonite Garnet,
Zircon,
Moonstone,
Almandine Garnet,
Spessartite Garnet,
Tourmaline.
Some of the expensive Gem Stones from Sri Lanka.
Gem Certificate.
There are many foreign laboratories and local ones provide certificates for original gem stones to calculate their value and originality. Also they can found out if the stones are heat treated. If the stones are heat treated ones, they are not respected in the market. A reasonable fee will be charged for the certification service.
Take note, you can't export or take with you raw uncut stones from Sri Lanka.
Buying expensive stones in Sri Lanka.
Buy them only from reputed persons or companies only, as there are many fake stones, synthetic and imitation ones are in the market . Never buy from the road side vendors or unknown people.
Some time they may be only a shining glass piece, heat treated stones or stolen stuff. Buy them from genuine gem dealers and then get certificate for it from a gem laboratory for it.If you think that you are cheated by someone, don't hesitate to get the help of the Sri Lanka police.
If you are really interested in genuine gem stones, contact Mr.Chinthaka through his email
chinthaka3624@gmail.com He will assist you in polished gem stone buying process.
Find here one good article about the Sri Lanka Gem Stone, that was published in Sri Lanka Newspaper.
Gemstones for healing.
Your mind and body receive nourishment and energy from food which grows on the outer (first) layer of the earth. The minerals that infuse the vegetables and grains with nourishment lie in a lower (second) layer of the earth. The third layer, deep under the earth's surface, contains concentrations of harmonizing ions. With intense pressure and high temperatures, dynamic energies are instilled within the gemstones that are dug from mines around the world. These gemstones, or rather Vedic astrological gemstones recharge your body, improve your mind, attract more respect and affection enabling you to accomplish tasks with relative ease.
Gemstones for healing and balance
By Milinda Edirisinghe (Consultant Gemologist)
Your mind and body receive nourishment and energy from food which grows on the outer (first) layer of the earth. The minerals that infuse the vegetables and grains with nourishment lie in a lower (second) layer of the earth. The third layer, deep under the earth's surface, contains concentrations of harmonizing ions. With intense pressure and high temperatures, dynamic energies are instilled within the gemstones that are dug from mines around the world. These gemstones, or rather Vedic astrological gemstones recharge your body, improve your mind, attract more respect and affection enabling you to accomplish tasks with relative ease.
Gemstones have a special significance in Vedic astrology. Gemstones are used from age to age to overcome negative influences caused by the planets. In the past only kings and people of high social status used to wear gemstones recommended by the astrologers and enjoyed their benefits. Currently anyone can wear and obtain the benefits from the gemstones. Wearing gemstones to overcome the negative influences from the planets is a rapidly growing practice. The people who wear such gems are benefiting in every aspect of life including business, education and health. Gems are very important in Vedic astrology. According to my experience only natural gemstones can give the benefits and according to Vedic astrology the nine planets represent, the nine special gemstones. Padmaraga represents the Sun, pearl the Moon, ruby or red coral-Mars, emerald-Mercury, yellow sapphire-Jupiter, diamond-Venus, blue sapphire-Saturn, hessonite-Rahu and cat's eye-Ketu. It's necessary to know the gemstone you are going wear to understand its good or bad effects according to your horoscope; if not it will bring more harm than benefit. So it is crucial that you consult an experienced astrologer before starting to wear them.
By wearing the prescribed gemstones under proper supervision, you can benefit from the natural healing qualities of the gemstones.
The ancient scriptures mention the relationship between colours, planets, and gemstones. The correlation is perfectly evident in the sacred colour stratification, ROYGBIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. The cosmic rays that manifest themselves in various wavelengths (colours) have unique affects on the health of our mind and body. The purest of the ROYGBIV rays resides concentrated in precious gems, and so, the gems are of great curative value.
How can a wrong gemstone be harmful?
Did you know that the jewellery you or your family members are wearing right now can be harmful? If the gemstones are genuine, then wearing the wrong gemstone could create problems in your life. When you are wearing gemstones, why not wear the gemstones that enhance your life. If a particular gemstone were to be beneficial to one person, it could be harmful to another. It is similar to one spoon of sugar that can boost an average person's energy level can be life threatening to a person with diabetes. Therefore, if you wear the wrong gemstones prescribed by an unqualified person, it can be harmful and the wearer, would be unaware that the wrong gemstone is hurting him. You may blame your boss, your spouse or your luck, but the problem could be on your finger.
How can you choose the correct gemstone?
I find the Vedic astrological correspondences to gems to be more effective in treating energy deficiencies in a person. Vedic astrology uses gemstones as medicinal therapy in various forms. I have found personally, and also through the feedback from many others that irradiated and colour treated gems have substantially less effect on the body than high quality natural untreated gems have. I have found that man-made artificial gems have virtually no power or healing abilities.
Inspect the gem's colour, cut, RI Reading, cracks or inclusions, transparency, symmetry, and check if the stone you are considering purchasing has been enhanced with oils or resins, and if it has been, get details about the treatment from a gemologist and not from an astrologer.
I find the Vedic astrological correspondences to gems to be more effective in treating energy deficiencies in a person. Vedic astrology uses gemstones as medicinal therapy in various forms. I have found personally, and also through the feedback from many others that irradiated and colour treated gems have substantially less effect on the body than high quality natural untreated gems have. I have found that man-made artificial gems have virtually no power or healing abilities.
Inspect the gem's colour, cut, RI Reading, cracks or inclusions, transparency, symmetry, and check if the stone you are considering purchasing has been enhanced with oils or resins, and if it has been, get details about the treatment from a gemologist and not from an astrologer.
Source: http://www.ceylontoday.lk/97-59577-news-detail-gemstones-for-healing-and-balance.html
Whither Sri Lankan gem industry.
By Eng. Profr P.G.R. Dharmaratne
The 16th International Coloured Gemstone Association(ICA) Congress was held at Cinnamon Grand Hotel earlier this year with over 500 gemmologists, gem traders, government officials and journalists from over 30 countries attending. The theme of the congress was “Sapphire and more…”. It was heartening to observe, that there were speakers who have carried out a lot of research and investigations about the Ceylon sapphire. In fact the first speaker of the congress, Jack Ogden from the US, spoke of the history of sapphires which included some jewellery from Afghanistan, made of Ceylon sapphires dating back to over 2000 years. Speaker after speaker spoke of the virtues of Sri Lankan sapphires. But as I listened to the many speakers I silently wondered how long our sapphire industry could survive.
Sri Lanka has been known for many centuries for its wealth of gems. Many historical references to gems of Ceylon from the time of Marco Polo, are also well-known. We talk of over 70 varieties of gems produced in Sri Lanka.But how many are aware that over 80 per cent of our export earnings come from the corundum species of gems to which the ruby and the sapphire belong.And in fact over 60 per cent of export earnings are from the blue sapphire only while 10 per cent comes from cat’s eyes. This shows the high dependency of Sri Lankan gem and jewellery industry on sapphires and cat’s eyes.Our gem and jewellery industry has faced many challenges over the years.First it was synthetic sapphire and synthetic ruby during the 20th century.
Synthetics thus produced were so real, free of inclusions, yet costing only a few hundredths of a natural sapphire and ruby of the same colour and quality. People thought ‘Oh, why do we need a natural ruby and sapphire when all the physical properties and optical properties are the same in these new synthetic rubies and sapphires’. It was only a case of mixing up ingredients needed to produce corundum and running through a flame produced by a H2/O2 gas mixture… the powders melt and form gems in a matter of minutes! The natural gem trade collapsed within a short period. But some talked about the importance of the naturalness of a gem. They said ‘we don’t want man-made things to replace our natural beauties’. Gemmologists had to intervene to identify these synthetic products. This resulted in the natural gem trade slowly recovering. But it took years!
Many decades later new products came to the market. This time they called it cultured rubies or cultured emerald. Crystals of gems were grown on a solution very similar to that of nature. But in effect it was another form of synthetics which was little more expensive than the first one.
Gemmologists had another task of detection which also they successfully managed.However gemmologists could not rest for long. Soon unusually beautiful lots and lots of blue sapphire were invading the market. They found that the colour was confined to the surface, in fact only a few hundredths of a millimeter. They said it is a ‘surface diffusion’ of colour giving elements to light colour natural gemstones. Before long, diffused rubies too came to the market. Once again gemmologists had to intervene to combat this new challenge and save the gem industry.
A few years latter unusually beautiful expensive honey coloured cat’s eyes flooded the market. Soon we in Sri Lanka got information that they are highly radioactive. Quality had been improved by irradiation. Sri Lanka announced to the world that all the cat’s eyes leaving our shores are tested for irradiation. We saved the day for cat’s eyes but only perhaps until another disaster strikes. So far, the identification of synthetics, diffused and irradiated cat’s eyes has not been overly difficult. Sri Lanka’s gem industry, which is mainly based on sapphire and cat’s eyes, suffered for a while with each of these challenges but yet survived.
Our sapphire industry suffered another blow only a decade ago when large quantities of yellow, orange and padmarga (Padparadscha) sapphires appeared in the Bangkok market. The unbelievable quantity of materials aroused the suspicion of gem traders all over the world. This time it was revealed that it was another form of diffusion treated sapphires using the ‘Beryllium element’. Unlike previous diffusion processes, this time deep penetration and numerous colours of sapphires were being produced and the process was termed “lattice diffusion”. The identification of these synthetics was not only difficult but it was very expensive, costing over US$ 500 per test. The world gem industry and particularly the Sri Lankan industry suffered for a few years. Sri Lanka’s position as the leading supplier of padmarage.
(Padparadscha) was greatly affected as the buyers, mainly Japan, stopped buying such coloured gemstones until the dispute was resolved.
Many analytical techniques hitherto used for elemental analysis in chemistry such as LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometry), SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) and LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablated Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry) are necessary for detection of beryllium (Be) diffused sapphires. Unlike basic gemmological equipment, this equipment is extremely expensive going up to many millions of rupees. Initially only yellow, orange and padmarga (Padparadscha) were the colours that was thought to be developed by this treatment. But it has become evident that diffusion produced blue and red stones are very similar to the natural blue sapphire and ruby.
The Gemologists Association of Sri Lanka (GASL) started its campaign about 20 years ago to convince the authorities of the need for a well-equipped gemmological laboratory in Sri Lanka to deal with the problems encountered by the industry as discussed above. Furthermore the availability of such a laboratory would have encouraged the international gem trading community to purchase gems in Sri Lanka with confidence. At present a buyer who chooses a gemstone in the local market has to wait till a report is obtained from a reputed laboratory abroad. The seller has to spend lot of money and wait for weeks for the same. Consequently the gem dealers instead of visiting Sri Lanka and waiting for weeks may go to Thailand and purchase their requirement and get a certificate and complete the transaction immediately because there are many well equipped labs in Bangkok.
Over the years the gem trading community, NGJA and Gemologists Association made many attempts to convince the government of the need for a well-equipped gemmology laboratory in Sri Lanka. Many attempts were made to convince the private sector companies ad banks to have collaborative projects. Failing all that NJGA suggested to our gem and jewellery trading community that we should get an additional ¼ per cent from exports of gems and jewellery for a lab fund (¼ per cent was already being levied as a service charge by the NGJA) and thus we established a gem laboratory fund in 2001. In the past 15 years over Rs.100 million has been collected to the fund, but a lab has not yet materialised.
Once I published an article in a local gemmological magazine where I presented the possibility of other treatments happening, which has not yet impacted the industry. There are other chemical elements like beryllium, of same size and weight, that could be diffused and produce or alter colour in gems. In fact at the GIT 2012, International Gem and Jewellery conference in Thailand, a researcher/trader presented his work on diffusing Lithium (Li) into sapphire, spinel, tourmaline and garnet to improve colour. Who knows how many other treatments may be attempted and accordingly we have to be prepared. Imagine what will happen to our gem industry, if buyers refuse to purchase without a certificate of authenticity regarding diffusion.
The very presence of an internationally recognised fully equipped lab will have a highly deterrent effect. Its mere presence will reassure the buyer that he can safely offer a higher price for a gem and get it tested within Sri Lanka. Otherwise when we try to get a certificate from abroad the buyer will not wait that long and go to another country. We don’t know how many millions we may have lost over many decades due to our tardiness in setting up a certification laboratory here in Sri Lanka. It’s never too late and we need to have a complete laboratory and do business combining technology with marketing and business skills. Our gem industry cannot survive without a fully equipped gemmology laboratory!
(The writer is a senior professor of the University of Moratuwa, Fellow Member of the Gemmological Association of Sri Lanka and former Director General and former Chairman of National Gem and Jewellery Authority) .
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/151220/business-times/whither-sri-lankan-gem-industry-175649.html
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