Some of world's rarest gemstones worth over $500m brought to UAE

UAE resident FS, a Sri Lankan-born gem connoisseur, has brought two of the world’s largest gemstones — a black star sapphire and a green beryl cat’s eye — to the Emirates.

- Waheed Abbas

Priced at over $500 million (Dh1.8 billion), the rare stones, named The Black Star of Eva and The Eye of Hope, have made their first commercial appearances in the UAE.

The record-holder, who requested to remain unnamed, is the second generation in a family with deep roots in Sri Lanka’s gem mining and trading industry. His father, now in his 80s, was a well-known gem miner and dealer.

The black star sapphire has been in the family’s possession since the 1970s, originally discovered in Sri Lanka. The green beryl cat’s eye was acquired in 2020 from a local dealer in Madagascar.