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by P.D.A.S. Gunasekera, Ratnaprua group correspondent

A Sri Lankan gem-discover D. Palitha Gunasekera, a former senior valuer of the Gem Corporation and a gem-exporter, from Sabaragamuwa, has found a new gem-stone, described by Prof. Edward J. Gubelin and Dr. K. Schumetzer, Ph.D of the Gubelin Gem Laboratory, Switzerland, as an extremely rare specimen of the Purest Ray serene, which had almost overshadowed gem discoveries in East Africa and Madagascar.

The new stone code-named 'Serendibite' after the ancient Arabic name for Sri Lanka, known to the ancient gem-merchants from the Middle East as 'Serendib', belonged to the 'rare mineral family 'Serendibite', according to the identification report of the Gem Institute of America mentioned in Vol. 33 of Gems and Gemology, an international publication.

The stone discovered in Ginigalgoda, Kolonna in Sri Lanka has a caret-weight of 0.56, clear, transparent, green in colour and triangular in shape with a density of 3.39 and refractive indices of 1.679-1.702 according to records.

Prof. Gubelin and Dr. Schumetzer have recognised Palitha Gunasekera as the discover of the two rarest gem-stones in the Gem World to-date according to Dr. Mary L. Johnson, co-author of the Gem and Gemology publication (Vol. 33). 

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