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| Wednesday, 2 March 2005 |
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G for Gems and Guruge by Aditha Dissanayake History has it that, in the 1st Century AD, a dispute between the Naga King Mahodera and Prince Chulodera over a throne studded with gemstones, brought the Buddha to Sri Lanka. In 14th Century AD Ibn Batuta, the Arab traveller from Tangiers wrote "Gems are met within all localities of the island. I have seen on the forehead of the white elephant several of these precious stones, each larger than a hen's egg," while a century before him, Marco Polo observed "The island produces more beautiful and valuable rubies than are found in any other part of the world. Sapphires, topazes, amethysts, garnets..."
Ask any Geologist, and hear him say, "nine tenths of our island is underlain by rocks of Precambarian age, and gemstones are a naturally occurring crystalline form of a mineral". Are they really just stones? Apparently not. Not to Jinadasa Guruge, the owner of Guruge Manik, who built an empire
of his own with a palatial residence in Kahawatta with the help of these
"Precambarian crystalline forms". Born on Christmas day in 1938, Guruge is the eldest in a family of five. After completing his education at Kahawatta Maha Vidyalaya, he began to show an interest in the gem mines surrounding his hometown. Working in the mines and observing the transactions between the buyers and the sellers he learnt the ABCs of the gem industry. He learnt that gemstones which are "clear" and have a few visible inclusions or tiny flowers are the most valuable. He also learnt how to identify the best sapphires by observing the brightness of their colour under different types of lighting, for it was important to see that there are no black or green overtones mixed in with the blue which would reduce the value of the stone. With the knowledge thus gained, at the age of thirty he stepped into the industry with an office of his own on Vidyala Mawatha in Kahawatta. Today he owns 15 gem mines with around two hundred families are making a living from working in the mines. He also has a staff of 350 employees. To this day, Guruge believes together with dogged determination and hard work, one also needs luck to succeed in the gem industry and that luck came to him in the form of his wife. He sees her, Kavuduwawe Madampe Swarnalatha as the force behind the success of all his business endeavours. Willing to help and assist all newcomers into the industry, he makes sure whoever visits him, on business or otherwise, would never leave empty handed. Today, at the age of sixty-seven, looking back across the years, and recalling the uncountable number of rubies, padparadchas, alexandites, cat's eyes, topaz, moonstones etc, which are desirable because they are beautiful and valuable because they are rare, introduced by him to the market, to be bought as gifts or to become heirlooms enjoyed for generations, Guruge is satisfied with all that he has achieved. |
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