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Madagascar is the world leader in sapphire production (as of 2007) specifically its deposits in and around the town of Ilakaka. [31] Prior to the opening of the Ilakaka mines, Australia was the largest producer of sapphires (such as in 1987). [ 32 ]
The Gubelin Lab of Switzerland recently certified the sapphire in its finished, carved form at 61,500 carats (almost 28 pounds, or 12.3 kilograms). [4] The Millennium Sapphire was showcased at the 2002 Academy Awards, [5] and in 2004 it made an appearance in Seattle at the launch of Princess Cruises' ship, The Sapphire Princess. [6]
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Ruspoli Sapphire: 136.9 carats (27.38 g) [11] Stuart Sapphire: Sri Lanka 104 carats (20.8 g) Blue Tower of London [12] Bismarck Sapphire: Myanmar: 98.56 carats (19.712 g) Table Blue National Museum of Natural History, Washington [13] James J. Hill Sapphire: 22.66 carats (4.532 g) Cornflower National Museum of Natural History, Washington [14]
In the early 1980s, Intergem Limited, which controlled most of the Yogo sapphire mining at the time, rocked the gem world by marketing Yogo sapphires as the world's only guaranteed "untreated" sapphire, exposing a practice of the time wherein 95 percent of all the world's sapphires were heat-treated to enhance their natural color.
The mineralogy of the gem deposits varies widely with, among others, corundum (sapphire, ruby), chrysoberyl, beryl, spinel, topaz, zircon, tourmaline, garnet being common. [2] 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.
After the discovery of world-class alluvial sapphire deposits in the valley of Ilakaka in Madagascar, many Ratnapura merchants travel out of the country to Madagascar to buy gems. There are three main Gem marketplaces in Ratnapura: Abagahamula Gem Market, Clock Tower Gem Market, and Demuwamawatha Gem Market.
Serendipity Sapphire is the world's largest star sapphire cluster, and it weighs 510 kilograms (2,600,000 carats). [1] It was found in Kahawatte, in the Ratnapura District , Sri Lanka, in July 2021. Its worth is estimated to be up to US$100 million.