ABOUT GEMS

	About Gems
From time immemorial gems have been used by people in different ways. It has curative power as well as the power to pour in fortune and drive away the evil of our planetary position. Certain gems and stones have magical powers of healing and fortune giving. Gems have made life happier to many individuals. These are widely used to get benefit from the planets as these little gems carry neverending source of rays of the planet and continue even after years. As per astrology and numerology gems counteract the bad effects of planets and get us luck, fortune, prosperity, status, knowledge, concentration, good health, name and fame.                  Gems can be selected on the basis of our Zodiac or the star we are born under. Gems can also be chosen according to our names first letter, date of birth and month of birth.

Sri Lanka’s gems industry

Sri Lanka’s gem industry has a very long and colorful history. Sri Lanka was affectionately known as Ratna-Dweepa which means Gem Island. The name is a reflection of its natural wealth. Marco Polo wrote that the island had the best sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and other gems in the world.Ptolemy, the 2nd century astronomer recorded that beryl and sapphire were the mainstay of Sri Lanka’s gem industry. Records from sailors that visited the island states that they brought back “jewels of Serendib”. Serendib was the ancient name given to the island by middle – eastern and Persian traders that crossed the Indian Ocean to trade gems from Sri Lanka to the East during the 4th and 5th century. 

Sri Lanka, geologically speaking is an extremely old country. Ninety percent of the rocks of the island are of Precambrian age, 560 million to 2,400 million years ago. The gems form in sedimentary residual gem deposits, eluvial deposits, metamorphic deposits, skarn and calcium-rich rocks. Other gems are of magmatic origin. Residual deposits are mainly found in flood plains of rivers and streams. The metamorphic types of gems constitute 90% of the gem deposits in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the highest density of gem deposits compared to its landmass. Ratnapura contains the most gem deposits and derived its name from the gem industry. Ratnapura means “city of gems”. The blue sapphires from Sri Lanka are known as Ceylon Sapphire. Ceylon Sapphires are reportedly unique in colour, clarity and lustre compared to the blue sapphires from other countries.