Corundum

specimen number:
2063235

location:
Ratnapura, Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka

description:
A loose pale blue gemmy semi lustrous sharp double terminated crystal of corundum, this the variety often called Sapphire. Good example from this classic locality. This crystal weighs 11.22 g. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Ratnapura, known as the City of Gems, is situated in Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka, and serves as the global epicenter for fine sapphires. The regional geology consists primarily of ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks belonging to the Highland Complex. Over millions of years, intense weathering and fluvial erosion transported sapphire crystals from their deep crustal parent rocks into river valleys, depositing them in secondary alluvial gravel beds locally called illam. Historically, small-scale placer mining and gem collecting in this district date back over two millennia, making Ratnapura a key supplier of world-renowned blue, star, and rare padparadscha sapphires throughout ancient trade networks to modern gemological collections. Today, traditional pit-mining techniques and artisanal gravel washing continue to yield exceptional gemstone specimens from these fertile floodplains.

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