Editor’s Note
This article describes the unveiling in Sri Lanka of what is believed to be the world’s largest natural blue sapphire, a 310-kilogram gemstone discovered in a local mine.
Sri Lanka has presented this enormous gemstone, discovered three months ago in a mine. This sapphire therefore weighs over 1.5 million carats.
Sri Lankan authorities unveiled on Sunday what is likely the world’s largest natural corundum blue sapphire ever discovered. The stone weighs nearly 310 kilograms, representing over 1.5 million carats. It was displayed at the home of one of the mine owners where the discovery was made three months ago, in Horana, southeast of Colombo, according to Reuters.
Buddhist monks chanted blessings for the stone before it was unveiled.
Sri Lanka is one of the world’s leading exporters of sapphires and other precious stones. This trade earned it over half a billion last year. The most expensive sapphire ever sold is the Blue Belle of Asia, a Sri Lankan sapphire of 392 carats set on a diamond necklace that fetched the astronomical sum of $17.29 million at Christie’s in Geneva in 2014.
