Local ‘mafia’ campaigning to derail sale of star sapphire cluster to prospective global buyers

Gem and Jewellery Authority Chairman says

By Suresh Perera

A local ‘mafia’ has unleashed an organized campaign of misinformation to thwart the sale of the star sapphire cluster unearthed at Pelmadulla near Ratnapura to prospective international buyers, a top industry official asserted.

“They are trying to deliberately devalue the precious gemstone in an attempt to discourage global bids so that they can make a kill after procuring it for a rock-bottom price”, says Tilak Weerasinghe, Chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Authority.

The rare gemstone weighing 510-kilograms or 2.5 million carats, described by the Authority as the “world’s biggest star sapphire cluster”, has been estimated to be worth US$ 100 million or possibly more. It surfaced from the backyard of a house when some workers were digging a well at Pelmadulla near Ratnapura known as the “city of gems”.

The negative publicity on the worth of the star sapphire cluster has emanated from the local ‘mafia’ keen to put prospective international buyers off track so that they can grab the rare find for a fraction of its worth, he said.

“Many international buyers have already shown a keen interest in procuring it”.

There are collectors who make fantastic offers to buy rare gemstones of this calibre, Weerasinghe pointed out. “I am confident we will be able to fetch a record price for it”.

He said the BBC report on unearthing a star sapphire cluster of this magnitude not found anywhere in the world so far triggered a frenzy with scores of prospective global collectors and buyers expressing interest in purchasing it.

Two persons described as “professionals in the lapidary field” dismissed speculation that the gemstone was not “worth millions of dollars”, as claimed.

Expressing their views on a television channel, one of them said the gemstone was basically a “museum piece” and estimated its worth to be around one million rupees.

The other person placed its value at around Rs. 400,000 and said he had more precious gems in his possession.

The fact that the star sapphire cluster was described as a “museum piece” itself shows that it’s priceless, Weerasinghe interjected. “We cannot fix prices to exhibits in a museum”.

This precious gemstone is a part of our national pride, he stressed. “It will be an honor to our country to bestow it to the world”.

Those who live like frogs in a well don’t understand that there’s a world beyond which appreciates and rewards what’s of worth and value, the Chairman noted. “People with their own agendas want to paint a different picture to achieve their own ends”.

Outlining that as a professional he has dealt with precious stones and also traveled to multiple world capitals on related work, Weerasinghe recalled the sale of a 25-kilo rare gemstone for millions of dollars at a London auction some time back.

Apart from precious gemstones, even the personal belongings of celebrities such as Michael Jackson have fetched millions of dollars at public auctions, he continued.

Asked whether the star sapphire cluster was unearthed at Pelmedulla about a year ago, he replied, “yes, only the owner of the property and I knew about it. We kept it under wraps until the pandemic situation both here and globally improved to make the announcement so that we could secure a good price for it”.

“Over the past year, it was cut and polished and a valuation done after it was analyzed and certified to be ready for the market”.

He said there will be a 25% tax component to the Sri Lankan government on the sale price of the gemstone.

State Minister of Gem and Jewelery Related Industries, Lohan Ratwatte, said that Sri Lanka is also looking at placing the precious gemstone for bidding at an auction in China in November this year.

During the cleaning process, a few stones that dislodged were found to be high quality star sapphires. They were pale blue in colour, officials said.

However, despite the euphoria about the prospect of the star sapphire raising millions of dollars, some experts have warned that though the specimen has a high carat value at 2.5 million, all the stones within the cluster may not be of high-quality.

“It remains to be seen how an international valuation will play out”.