Largest Sapphire In the World Discovered in Backyard

One man’s house renovation project turned into a treasure hunt, when he accidentally stumbled upon the world’s largest sapphire, making him instantly rich.

Imagine you’re doing some gardening in your backyard, when all of a sudden your shovel hits something hard (and sparkly). You dig deeper and discover that a gigantic pale blue rock worth a fortune has been hiding in your garden all along!

This is exactly what happened to Mr. Gamage, a gem-trader in Sri Lanka, as reported by the BBC. Recently, he was digging a well behind his house, located in the gem-rich Ratnapura area, when they found a humongous stone.

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It was quickly identified as a star sapphire cluster weighing half a ton (510 kilograms!) or incredible 2.5 million carats.

Above: three truly unique sapphire rings

Sapphire is one of the most sought-after gems ever, mainly because of its excellent hardness and durability. With this boisterous baby thought to be the largest in the world, it is believed to be worth over 100 million dollars!

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We imagine Mr. Gamage is one happy man right now. No wonder he named his new treasure the “Serendipity Sapphire,” referring to a lucky coincidence or fortunate stroke of fate.

Above: a gorgeous sapphire ring with lab-grown diamonds, check out similar rings here

This once in a lifetime discovery happened in our beloved Sri Lanka, which is called The Island of Jewels, as you may know by now if you’ve followed us for a while. But perhaps you didn’t know that the word “serendipity” actually stems from the old Arabic word "Serendib", referring to the island of Sri Lanka!

Feel like having your own serendipitous gemstone, but don’t have a backyard in Sri Lanka? You could actually go on a treasure hunt in the north as well. There are many areas in Norway where you can bring your own shovel and dig for gemstones and find a precious peridot, for instance.

Another option is to have a look at our sapphires in the Nangi shop, they're all from Sri Lanka :)

Photo courtesy: Mr. Gamage / BBC