Sri Lanka – the dream island of gemstones. Especially sapphires come from there. They are known under the name Ceylon sapphire. We visited some mines in the Ratnapura region during our round trip and saw hardworking men and beautiful stones. In the picture you can see the washing out of the precious stone containing rock, which is brought to light in a very traditional way in baskets from the shafts and tunnels. Gemstone hunting is done in a group, everyone gets a share of the sale price at the end.
This group has to pay a deposit at the beginning of the excavation, which they get back when the land is returned to the owner in its original condition.
The search for gems is in the hands of the Sinhalese, the sale is in the hands of the Moors, Sunni Muslims who speak Tamil as their mother tongue.
The gemstone search is a strenuous job and we find that here a fair payment is necessary also to the “last hand”.
Ratnapura
Visit to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka – the dream island of gemstones. Especially sapphires come from there. They are known under the name Ceylon sapphire. We visited some mines in the Ratnapura region during our round trip and saw hardworking men and beautiful stones. In the picture you can see the washing out of the precious stone containing rock, which is brought to light in a very traditional way in baskets from the shafts and tunnels. Gemstone hunting is done in a group, everyone gets a share of the sale price at the end.
This group has to pay a deposit at the beginning of the excavation, which they get back when the land is returned to the owner in its original condition.
The search for gems is in the hands of the Sinhalese, the sale is in the hands of the Moors, Sunni Muslims who speak Tamil as their mother tongue.
The gemstone search is a strenuous job and we find that here a fair payment is necessary also to the “last hand”.