Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is truly an island of paradise with spectacular views! We have the hills and we have the coasts… and most importantly, among all its natural resources, we have gems – in abundance.

Known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”, “Paradise of the East” , with a rich history, Sri Lanka has had many names …

“Taprobane”, “Ceylon”, “Serendib”, Jazirat Kakut” and the “Ratna-dweepa” (gem island) or simply the island of gems.

Sri Lanka received independence from British rule on the 4th February 1947. Until then, the island was named Ceylon by the British. Strategically situated at the southern tip of India, the gem trade has been one of the important industries since very early times.

In its early history Sri Lanka was famous for obtaining the worlds best quality pearls from the pearl banks in the Gulf of Mannar.

Sri Lanka claims to have 75 varieties and sub varieties of gemstones. Both the rare and those in abundance.

If you’d like to learn about Sri Lanka and its gem industry, I’d like to recommend Gems and Gem Deposits of SriLanka by H.S. Guneratne and C.B. Dissanayake.

The following images are from this book.

The distribution of the main gem fields of SriLanka: