From Rakwana Rough to Blue Spinel: A Gem Hunting and Custom Cutting Journey

Some gemstone journeys begin in a showroom. This one began much closer to the source. During a City of Gem gem-hunting journey with one of our European customers, we travelled through the gemstone-producing areas around Rakwana, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, near the Sinharaja rainforest region. The purpose was not simply to purchase gemstones, but to give our customer a closer experience of how Sri Lankan gemstones move from source areas into the hands of buyers, cutters and collectors. During this journey, we sourced a 5.74 ct natural blue spinel rough, which later b