World’s largest blue star sapphire worth up to $175M found in Sri Lanka

The world’s largest blue star sapphire has been unearthed in a mine in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. Experts from the Gemmological Institute of Colombo, in Sri Lanka, have certified that the gem weighs a record 1,404.49 carats (nearly 10 ounces). The blue gem has been given a price tag of at least $100 million, however, its current owner, estimates that it could go for as much as $175 million, if put up for auction. “When the stone was brought to me I suspected that it might be the world’s largest blue star sapphire. So I took a risk and bought it.” The anonymous owner has named the sapphire “The Star of Adam” and told the BBC that he saw the gem as more of “an exhibition piece” than jewelry.He said that he named the stone ‘The Star of Adam’ based on the Muslim belief that Prophet Adam arrived in the bountiful land called Sri Lanka and when God discarded him from Paradise for eating ‘The Forbidden Fruit’ Adam lived on the slopes of the mountain now known in Sri Lanka as ‘Adam’s Peak’. The story goes that on this mountain he cried copiously and sought God’s forgiveness. It is believed by some that it is these tears that became the resplendent gems in that region. He also said that the Star of India, a grayish Blue Star Sapphire which was also mined in Sri Lanka and now housed in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York weighs 563.35 carats. This gem was a donation to the AMNH by the exceedingly wealthy financier J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s. He also said, the Star of Bombay weighing 182 carats, also of Sri Lankan origin, was gifted by the famous pre-World War II actor Douglas Fairbanks to his wife Mary Pickford. This gem lies in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (SNMNH), Washington DC. Also at the SNMNH is the Star of Artaban, weighing 287 carats.The Black Star of Queensland, from Australia, believed, until now, to have been the world’s largest star Sapphire, weighs 733 carats. Only the Black Star of Queensland has a commercially valued price attached to it. The current ownerhas set a negotiable price of US$ 88 million on the stone. Given this fact, and considering the fact that the size of the Lankan ‘Star of Adam’ has very few close competitors, and also the fact that this gemstone is considered priceless, the current owner is yet to set a price tag on this exquisitely unique gem.