You by no means know what you would possibly discover in your personal yard. That’s definitely true for one Sri Lankan gent, who by chance unearthed the world’s largest star sapphire cluster whereas renovating his dwelling in Ratnapura.

The person in query, a third-generation gem dealer who requested to be known as Mr. Gamage, advised the BBC the rarity was found by workmen digging a properly in his yard. The cluster, which has since aptly been named the Serendipity Sapphire, weighs a staggering 2.5 million carats or roughly half a ton. It might be value as a lot as $100 million on the worldwide market.

“The one that was digging the properly alerted us about some uncommon stones,” Mr. Gamage advised the information outlet. “Later we stumbled upon this enormous specimen.”

It took greater than a 12 months to rid the cluster of impurities earlier than it might be analyzed and licensed. All through this course of, a handful of stones fell out and had been discovered to be high-quality star sapphires just like those proven within the representational picture above. Whereas not all stones contained in the cluster could obtain such a grading, the sheer dimension of the Serendipity Sapphire renders it extraordinarily uncommon.

World’s largest star sapphire cluster present in Sri Lanka yard https://t.co/uy10MZDhtz

— BBC Information (World) (@BBCWorld) July 27, 2021

“It’s a particular star sapphire specimen, most likely the largest on the earth,” Thilak Weerasinghe, the chairman of the Nationwide Gem and Jewelry Authority of Sri Lanka, advised the BBC. “Given the dimensions and its worth, we predict it’ll curiosity non-public collectors or museums.”

Ratnapura, which accurately means “metropolis of gems” in Sinhalese, has develop into synonymous with valuable stones after a protracted legacy of notable gem discoveries. Sri Lanka itself is a number one purveyor of valuable gems and earned round half a billion {dollars} by exports of those stones final 12 months.

That doesn’t make the invention of the Serendipity Sapphire any much less particular, although. Consultants imagine the ginormous cluster, which has a delicate pale blue hue, fashioned some 400 million years in the past. The truth that it was discovered by likelihood in somebody’s yard is, fairly merely, an astonishing stroke of serendipity.