FACETS – Bringing Sri Lanka’s Gem & Jewelry Industry Into the 21st Century

A tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean was once a prominent feature in the tales of explorers, scholars and merchants who spread the fame of the troves of precious gems hidden in its earth. The 27^th Edition of the FACETS International Gem and Jewelry Exhibition held recently bore testament to the fact that the Sri Lankan Gem and Jewelry industry was still thriving and revolutionizing itself to meet the tastes and demands of the 21^st century. The Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre was filled to the brim with stalls featuring magnificent gems, dazzling jewelry and fascinating equipment. First among the guests to visit the exhibition was the honorable Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe who expressed his admiration of some of the pieces on display. International delegates from all over the world visited the exhibition as well as a number of foreign guests, who’d come from far and wide to experience the wonder of one of Sri Lanka’s primary resources. His Excellency, President Maithripala Sirisena visited the exhibition on its opening day and was extremely pleased with the glittering works on display. The Premier Jewelry Pavilion and the Gem and Jewelry Mart returned once again to much acclaim from the show’s visitors. Stunning sapphires, dazzling diamonds, exquisite emeralds and radiant rubies were but a few of the types of gems among the glittering assemble, ranging from precious to semi-precious, garnets, aquamarines, spinels, amethysts, jade, amber, jasper and lapis lazuli were also some of the stones that made up the lists of features. Some of the jewelry on display was composed of metals such as gold, silver and platinum whilst others were made of coral, wood and glass. This year’s exhibition also featured a number of stalls showcasing laboratory equipment, artists’ tools and machines used in the manufacturing of jewelry and the mining of gems. Throughout the past 27 years FACETS has slowly but surely grown in size and popularity. What was once a simple jewelry show is now one of the most well known exhibitions in the global Gem and Jewelry community.