Fake stones may undermine Sri Lanka's gem trade

Ratnapura, Sri Lanka

FROM the Queen of Sheba to Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, Sri Lanka's sapphires have adorned royalty through the ages, but a flood of cheap imitations is threatening the island's reputation for the precious stones. Ceylon sapphires, named after the island's colonial-era name, enjoyed a huge boost five years ago when it was revealed that one formed the centrepiece of the engagement ring Prince William gave Catherine Middleton.

They are renowned as the best sapphires in the world, but gem traders say artificial stones - coloured glass that to the untrained eye are virtually indistinguishable from sapphires - are being passed off as the real thing to unsuspecting buyers. They fear that is tarnishing the image of the gems, seen as a major potential income stream for an economy still recovering from decades of civil war. "This is the biggest threat to our industry. Our reputation is at stake," said Nissanka Weerasena, who owns a chain of upmarket jewellery stores in Sri Lanka. "These coloured pieces of glass imported by the kilo are killing the market for gems." Stories of buyers getting conned into buying fakes are legion. National Gem and Jewellery Authority chairman Asanka Welagedara recalled how one Australian buyer who spent US$14,000 only discovered that nearly half the stones he had been sold were fakes when he had them tested by the state-run regulator - by which time it was too late.