12Mar Nineteen48 Adds Canadamark Diamonds to Its Range
We are very pleased to announce that, alongside our wide range of ethically-sourced Sri Lankan coloured gemstones, we can now offer responsibly-mined and fully-traceable CanadaMark diamonds.These stunning gems are sourced by the Dominion Diamond Corporation…
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07Mar Kandy Kids Trip to Sri Lanka 2015
In January, Kandy Kids’ founder, Steve O’Driscoll, made his annual trip to Sri Lanka and, as usual, he did an amazing job of using the funds raised during the previous year to maximum effect.Yet again,…
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24Feb Award Nomination for Nineteen48
Nineteen48 was recently confirmed as a finalist in the UK Jewellery Awards (UKJA) 2015, having been shortlisted in the new category of Ethical Jewellery Business of the Year.“We were very pleased to see this new category…
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16Jan A Campaign to Change Lives? “I DO” Says Fairtrade Gold
On Wednesday 14th January, 2015, the Fairtrade Foundation launched its “I DO” campaign in London. The initiative aims to raise $1 million from sales of wedding rings made with Fairtrade Gold to support artisanal gold…
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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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