Steamy Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka. Ceylon. Land of sapphires and spinels and the occassional garnet. The air is thick, public transportation is a time to make peace with whatever God you subscribe to, and the Sri Lankan level of spice is not for the faint of heart. And the stones, the glorious, the stones.
It has been my quest for some time to visit mines, better understand where my stones come from, and grasp the mine to retail process more closely. This being said, the stones I purchased were not directly from the mines we visited. Or, they could have been, but I bought mostly smaller stones which did not come with certificates.
In my research to find a suitable program, I mostly came across tourist grade mine visits along the flavor of “Cooking class in the morning, visit a mine and buy gemstone jewelry in the afternoon, sunset cruise at 6, softdrinks included.” This was very much not my goal, and I eventually found a 10 day trip organized by a French gemmologist. The website was in French and English and I didn’t think much of it until I was added to the Whats App group and realized I was the only non French speaker. Thankfully, subtitles were generously provided and I was not accidentally left along a roadside nor in a mine shaft at any point.
The Mines
The gemstone mining in Sri Lanka is nearly all small scale artisanal and the use of heavy machinery is restricted or banned depending on the age of the mining permit. The extraction of dirt is done manually, processed with mostly hand tools, and then the land the mine was on has to be returned to its original state once the wine is depleted.
We visited both an alluvial and a manual open pit mine. In the open pit mine, a mine shaft is dug and the earth and rocks are hauled up and put thru a sluice to clear the sediment and reveal the larger stones. They are then sorted into baskets and the mine workers sort thru everything and separate out any rough stones of the sapphire, spinel, garnet, quartz, or other precious/ semi precious gemstone varieties. We had the opportunity to climb down the mineshaft. It was a large and steep hole. I politely declined. I do not like big holes nor heights.
Unlike deep pit mines in other parts of the world, many in Sri Lanka are on land that alternates usage as a cropland and mine. The one we visited was in felt to be in someone’s back yard. The miners camp at the mine, receiving a monthly stipend to cover basic living expenses, and then a portion of profits are split amongst them depending on how valuable the mined gemstones are.
Alluvial mines are found in river beds, floodplains, and valleys. The one we visited was on the crux of a river with a semi labrinyth of makeshift docks and platforms spread over the digging area. The miners dove with air tubes to bring up silt to pan for stones. I traded a few cigarettes for a little parcel of low quality rough stones and was very excited that smoking finally benefitted me in some way after all these years. We had a cutter on the trip (stone faceter, not someone doing self harm), and he unfortunately rated none of the stones worthy of cutting. I have a little memento collecting dust on my desk that I am still trying to figure how to monetise.
Heat Treatments
Most commercial grade sapphires are heated treated to improve the color. This can be done thru a controlled heating in a kiln, or by an old school blower who works with a pipe and charcoal. We met the latter, a man in a cement room with a pipe, charcoal, a stool, and not much else. But he was the best in the biz.
Stone Buying
Benoit, our benevolent leader, had many long held contacts of dealers who would come to our hotels and spread their wares over the breakfast table. I was very intimidated by a few of these men on day one, but by day nine we were all Facebook friends, had met their families, and drank gallons of sweetened tea together.
Most of the stones presented were of a size, scale, and provenance outside of my budget.
We also visited markets where we sit behind desks and the dealers bring us stones. Not intimidating at all having tens of hands passing you stones you don’t want that cost 6 months (Berlin) rent. As the market days wore on, it became obvious to the dealers who amongst us was looking for the mega bling (not me), and who was looking for interesting little bling (me).
The Aftermath
I currently have many little stone boxes of sapphires and spinels and garnets from this trip in my gemstone drawer in the studio. I like to take them out and look at them, and sometimes show people how pretty they are. Very unfortunately, I do need to actually put them in jewelry and sell them. Not gonna lie, it hurts. I am releasing new rings, Victorian inspired, with these stones next week. I also have many, many more stones that want to go into beautiful jewelry and not live in my mind rent free in a dark drawer. Reach out if you have an idea for a custom design.
Stay Awesome!
XoXo,
Anna