Gem cutting in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka produces some of the most beautiful gemstones in the world. While I was in Sri Lanka, I had the chance to watch how these people prepare and facet the gemstones straight from the mine. Just amazing how gem cutting in Sri Lanka is done even to this day. I loved my experience so much I’ll be going back again.

The Ceylon Sapphire comes from here is one of the most highly sought after gems.

View this video for a sneak at my cutting experience in Sri Lanka.

The first experience I had was with a guy who was using an old traditional cutting machine. It had no motor, but instead had a stick with a piece of rope tied around the shaft of a cutting machine to rotate it. The co-ordination and skill required to cut a gemstone using this machine blew my mind.

Then we left to travel to a cutting factory where the scale of production becomes obvious. There hundreds of people cutting away all day producing thousands of gems each day.