The Star of Adam is an oval-shaped blue star sapphire, currently the largest star sapphire in the world. It weighs . Prior to its discovery, the Black Star of Queensland, weighing , was the largest star sapphire gem in the world.

Description

The blue-colored gemstone has a six-pointed star-shaped reflection or distinctive mark in the center. This very large star sapphire was discovered in Ratnapura (known by the nickname "City of Gems"), in southern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, in August 2015. It was named "The Star of Adam" by the current owner, as a reference to Muslim beliefs that

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

arrived in Sri Lanka and lived on Adam's Peak after leaving the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan- Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2-3 and Ezekiel 28 ...

. The owner of the gem, preferring anonymity, told the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

's Newsday radio programme that "The moment I saw it, I decided to buy", and added "this was not a piece of jewellery but an exhibition piece". The blue star sapphire's weight of was certified by the Gemmological Institute of Colombo; the institute said that it had never issued a report on a gemstone larger than "The Star of Adam". However, size means little when it comes to fine gems. Corundum crystals weighing tens of kilograms have been unearthed. A leading gem and jewelry dealer in the country confirmed to the BBC that it was the largest blue star sapphire in the world. In an interview to

BBC Earth BBC Earth is a brand used by BBC Studios since 2009 to market and distribute the BBC's natural history content to countries other than the United Kingdom. BBC Studios is the commercial arm of the public service broadcaster. BBC Earth commercia ...

, Simon Redfern, mineral scientist from the University of Cambridge, said "the stone could have formed within the granite rocks of Sri Lanka's highlands. It was able to grow so big because of constant but slow change in temperatures and pressures within the rocks for millions of years". Later, the gemstone was valued at over $300 million, but this valuation has been disputed. Bangkok-based

Lotus Gemology Lotus Gemology is a gemology laboratory located in Bangkok, Thailand. It was founded in 2014 by Richard W. Hughes and Wimon Manorotkul and their daughter, E. Billie Hughes. Richard Hughes and Wimon Manorotkul began their gemological careers ...

maintains an updated listing of world auction records of

ruby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called ...

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...

and

spinel Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , which means ''spine'' in reference to its pointed crystals. Properties S ...

. As of November 2019, no sapphire has ever sold at auction for more than $17,295,796.

References

External links

The world's biggest blue sapphire?
Owner's interview @ Newsday radio programme
World's largest blue star sapphire found – Worth $300 million
Video of the gemstone with interview
Gem, Diamond and Jewellery Exporters from Sri Lanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Star of Adam, The Individual sapphires Gems of Sri Lanka

Description

See also

References

External links