04Jan Keeping It Clean: What Does It Mean to Be Ethical in the World of Gem Mining?
Ethics is a complex concept that means different things to different people and in different industries. For the world of gemstones and jewellery many of the ethical issues we face stem from the tough, uncompromising…
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25Dec A Colour for Every Occasion – the Rainbow World of Tourmaline
Although tourmaline is not the rarest of gems and is often seen in jewellery, not many people appreciate the entire colour range of this fascinating family of minerals.Tourmaline occurs all over the world. Primary deposits…
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26Nov That’s Not Just a Hole in the Ground – Types of Mines in Sri Lanka
When most people hear the term “mining”, they usually think of a large scale operation, such as a diamond mine, where the pit can be up to 1 mile across and the gem material buried…
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15Nov Is Sri Lanka the “sweet shop” of Gems?
Looking through the gem gravels in Sri Lanka is the gemmological equivalent of being a kid in the proverbial candy store.Gem mines on the island tend to be secondary deposits, rather than primary gem sources.…
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22Sep Gemming in Ceylon – a Reprint by H. V. Sardha Ratnavira
Thank you to Pala International’s Bill Larson for including this article in his newsletter in September 2014. It is interesting to see how little has changed in the last 75 years in Sri Lanka’s gem mining…
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14Sep Sapphire – the Star Attraction
One of the most fascinating and rare varieties of sapphire is the so-called “star” sapphire.This member of the corundum family exhibits a clear star shape (or asterism) under certain lighting conditions. When viewed using a…
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09Sep Successful Charity Run for Kandy Kids
On Sunday 7th September, Nineteen48’s co-founder, Stuart, put on his running shoes and joined Steve O’Driscoll from Kandy Kids for a half-marathon in their hometown of Bournemouth.The “dynamic” duo followed a course that took them…
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22Jul Not a Lot of People Know That – Some Sapphire Trivia
The name for sapphire is thought to have come from Greek (‘sappheiros’) or Latin (‘sapphirus’). Both of these words probably referred originally to lapis lazuli or were used as a generic term for blue gemstones.…
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22Jul New Charity Partner for Nineteen48
We are very pleased to announce that we are now working with another charity partner in Sri Lanka, the Emerge Lanka Foundation.The foundation is the Sri Lanka-based sister entity of Emerge Global, a Boston-based, non-profit…
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20Mar Sapphires Are Blue and Rubies Are Red… Right?
There is a common misconception that all sapphires are blue and all rubies are red. However, there’s a lot more to the colour of these stones than one might think.Both of these precious gemstones belong…
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