The day after I went down into the mine to see how sapphires are found (if you missed it, you can read all about this amazing experience here), I visited the place where those rough stones are turned into beautiful, faceted gems. It’s a surprisingly delicate process and there’s a lot that happens before any cutting begins.

When the stones first come out of the ground, they just look like dusty rocks. But under the right light, you can spot flashes of colour. The mine manager showed us how he examines them by using a bright light to look for colour zoning and to check for inclusions (tiny imperfections inside the stone). If the colour looks good and the stone is clean enough, he starts removing the outer layer using a blade to reveal what’s underneath. This part is called pre-forming, and it helps him decide whether the stone is worth cutting and what shape it might be.

We then headed to the edge of Colombo to visit the actual stone cutting workshop. It was upstairs in an airy space with a lovely breeze and monkeys playing in the trees just outside, not a bad view while working. I asked if they ever come in but they didn’t apparently because they never kept any food outside to tempt them!  There were about six or seven cutting machines, though most weren’t being used that day as many of the cutters were off celebrating a Buddhist festival.

We were offered the chance to try cutting a gemstone ourselves — and of course, we said yes! What we didn’t realise was just how detailed and slow the process is. It starts by figuring out the best shape for the stone — round, oval, pear, etc. — based on where the colour sits inside and the overall shape after pre-forming.

To begin faceting, the cutter attaches the stone to a dop stick using a waxy material, then places it onto a machine with a flat spinning disc called a lap. The idea is to gently press the stone onto the disc to create little flat surfaces (facets), turning it slightly each time — say, 12 degrees — and repeating the motion. You have to use the same pressure and timing to keep everything even. It’s slow, detailed work, and honestly, you need a steady hand and loads of practice to get it right.

Once we’d gone all the way around and created the first set of facets, we changed the angle slightly and did it all over again to create the next layer. We did this three time and then also for the top of the stone (called the crown). Then came the polishing — switching to a softer lap and going back over each facet to bring out the shine. Even just polishing took us about 45 minutes, and that didn’t include finishing the rest of the stone!

At that point, we left it to the pros, they make it look so easy, but there’s so much skill behind every cut. It gave me a whole new appreciation for what goes into making our sapphires (and every other gemstone). From muddy mine shafts to sparkling sapphires, seeing it up close really made me fall in love with the process all over again and made me want to learn more when I was back in the UK!

With the trip nearly over, and after having shared our hotel room with lizards, squirrels and cockroaches the last two nights, we were ready for our last (much fresher) hotel which had a pool where we could cool down after a very hot and intense few days. We reflected on what we’d learned whilst watching our final Sri Lankan sunset with a margarita in hand and made it a mission to travel back as soon as possible to learn even more.