SRI LANKA
We love to share stories at Hiba Jaber Jewelry so here we take you back to a time when our founder, Hiba Jaber, visited Sri Lanka to learn about the world of gem cutting, mining and stone hunting.
Following my passion for exploration and learning more about the world of gems, I booked myself an intensive trip to Sri Lanka to get a hands-on experience in gem cutting, also known as lapidary. Not knowing what I had got myself into, we drove a few hours from Colombo Airport until we arrived at a humble hut, in the middle of the mountains, in a small city called Ratnapura (the city of gems).
It was ten days of a jam-packed itinerary, consisting of everything to do with gems - gemstone mines, gem museums, stone cutting classes and jewelry markets. I experienced many eye-opening and unforgettable adventures, from going underground into the mines to spending hours exploring the market, where I encountered endless amounts of sparkling precious and semi-precious gemstones. After days of browsing with Mr Ratna, the 40-year-old expert who ran the workshop, I finally made a selection of a few beautiful colored sapphires, which Sri Lanka is most famous for, in the hope of incorporating them into my designs at a later stage. I also took home with me a few finished cuts of quartz and smoky quartz, the result of my 40-hour gem cutting workshop.
It was here that I gained a true appreciation for the art of gem cutting. This technique requires great patience and skill. Each and every facet is cut and polished, one-by-one, through a series of rounds and calculated angles, to ensure all angles meet equally to showcase the brilliance and light in the best way possible. Watch the video and scroll through the photos to get a glimpse of the experience!
