8 DAY / 7 NIGHT TRIP TO
GEMSTONE MINES IN CEYLON
SRI LANKA
SIGIRIY– RATNAPURA – HIKKADUAWA BEACH – COLOMBO
8 Days / 7 Nights
Location
Colombo, Sri Lanka
25
Price
$2250 (per person – based on double occupancy)
Can be paid in 1/3, 1/2 or in full payment schedule, two weeks prior to the start of the trip
Read a great story about this trip by the editor of JCK Victoria Gomelski
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Flight From
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Destination
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Date
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Departs
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Arrives
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New York
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Colombo
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August 21
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10:00
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15:00
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Colombo
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New York
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August 28
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16:30
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19:00
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Modern Transport
Travel in style in a guided safari of Taita – Amboseli – Ngorongoro – Nairobi
Extra Luggage
Take what you need, but travel light. Porters can help with your luggage!
Quality Accomodations
Sapphire rough
Mine pit
Holding a specimen
Fancy sapphires
Local travel
Burning sapphire
Washing a pit
Going into the mine
E. Gamini Zoysa | Ceylon Tour Organizer Current ICA Director representing Sri Lanka
Gamini Zoysa is Managing Director of Mincraft Company also a member of the Congress Committee and Communications Committee of the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA), as well as serving as the organization’s Director in Sri Lanka. He serves as Executive Committee Member of the Sri Lanka Gem & Jewellery Association and is a former President and current Executive Committee Member of the Gemmologists Association of Sri Lanka (GASL).
He is also board member for the International Gemological Conference (IGC). Zoysa holds a Master’s Degree in Geology from the University of Moscow and Doctorate in Mineral Exploration from Delft University, Netherlands and is an FGA (Gem-A) and G.G. (GIA) gemological graduate.
Board member of the American Gem Trade Association amp; the International Colored Stone Association.
Evan Caplan
Evan Caplan is one of the most knowledgeable colored gemstone professionals of our time. His ability to source the world’s finest treasures has led many of those in the know to call him “the eye.” His journey with gems goes back to the 1980’s when a friend, who was in the business of colored stones needed some help for a few days. This was Mr. Caplan’s introduction to the unique and beautiful world of rare stones and during his short exposure, developed a serious interest in them. Caplan decided to seek knowledge, so he began his studies at the Gemological Institute of America where attained a Graduate Gemologist diploma.
His desire for greater knowledge and the direct access to stones led him to travel and grow business relationships in Burma, Thailand, Brazil, Kenya, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, India and many other sources of stones. Mr. Caplan was one of the first people to bring the unique Paraiba Tourmaline to America. He, along with several others, was responsible for the cutting and eventual sale of the world’s largest Padparadscha Sapphire.
With the passage of time Caplan found himself attracted, again and again, to Alexandrite, a unique, beautiful and extremely rare gemstone. Alexandrite exhibits a phenomenon called “color change” in which the gem changes from red to green in different light conditions. It can also show a cat’s eye effect. On very rare occasions, both phenomena can occur in the same stone. For Caplan, this is one of the world’s most interesting stones. Now, at the pinnacle of his long career, Caplan has become an authority on Alexandrite and often lectures around the world on this truly remarkable gem.
Currently Caplan is on the Board of Directors of both the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and the International Colored Stone Association (ICA). You can find many of the treasures he has sourced in museums and private collections around the world.
