Sri Lanka finds 'world's largest blue sapphire'
The value of the stone, which has been called the "coincidence sapphire", reaches 100 million dollars.
Sri Lankan authorities have announced that a huge sapphire valued at $100 million was discovered by workers digging a well in the backyard of a house in the country.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the 2.5 million carat gemstone, believed to be the world's largest sapphire, was discovered behind the house of a stone dealer in Ratnapura.
"The person who was digging the well alerted us to the presence of some rare stones," the owner of the jewel told the New York Post.
Later, we found this huge specimen.”
Gamaj notified the authorities of the discovery, but it took more than a year to clean the stone before they could certify it.
"I've never seen such a large specimen before, this stone may have been formed about 400 million years ago," Dr Gamine Zwisa, one of the leading gemologists, told the BBC.
Experts pointed out that the value of the stone, which was called "coincidence sapphire", reaches 100 million dollars.
"It's a special sample of star sapphire (which shows a star-like focus of reflected or refracted light), and it's probably the largest in the world," said Thilac Weirasinghe, president of the National Gem and Jewelry Authority.
Given its size and value, we believe it will be of interest to collectors or private museums.”
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Ruby,
Gemstones,
Sri Lanka