Find Out What Gem is For Birthdays in May

 

Birthstones for May

According to the Gem association of Sri Lanka the precious stone representing the month of May is the beautiful green Emerald that the Greek’s called “Smaragdos” literally translated to mean ‘green coloured stone’.

"Who first beholds the light of day 
In spring's sweet, flower month of May 
And wears an Emerald all her life
 Shall be a loved and a loving wife."

Sri Lanka is famous for its Blue Sapphires (Ceylon sapphires) and Pink/Red Rubies which come from the mining district in Ratnapura. Ratnapura is a difficult place to backpack to and a very uninteresting place once you get there! To find out better tour options and discover more about Ratnapura and  Sri Lankan Gems check out my Backpacking Sri Lanka guide book below.

Celebs Born in May

Audrey Hepburn, George Clooney, David Beckham all have emeralds as their birthstone.

Celebs Who Love Emeralds

Royalty such as Queen Elizabeth 11 of UK, who reportedly has a massive emerald collection, have always favoured emeralds and former icons such as Elizabeth Taylor also loved the stone.

However, it was Angelina Jolie who caused the biggest stir when she strutted her stuff  at the 2009 Oscars. The fashion world certainly took notice as she walked down the red carpet wearing huge emerald tear dropped earrings designed by Lorraine Schwartz. Since then emeralds have been a firm favourite with fashion conscious celebs.

Famous Jewelry Pieces

The Crown of Andes made by the Incas weighs over 100lbs and is decorated with 453 emeralds that are approx. 1500carats.

Biggest Emerald Stone in the World

The Devonshire emerald is one of the largest emeralds in the world, it’s a whopping 1386 carats and was given to the 6^th Duke of Devonshire by the Emperor of Brazil in1831. It’s now in the Natural History Museum London

Healing powers

Emeralds were thought to be so beautiful, so dazzling that their brilliance could restore sight. A true believer in this was the short sighted Roman Emperor Nero, who was seen to use an Emerald eye glass to watch the gladiator games.  Other healing properties include fertility, spine, headaches and enhanced mental ability.

History

Emeralds were loved by the Peruvians, Romans, Incas and the Spanish. The Romans used emeralds as lie detectors, they believed the emerald would become lighter in colour if someone was lying or up to no good. The Incas were big time collectors of emeralds, especially the priests, who believed they had magical powers linked to the goddess Esmerelda. Some say the emeralds were as large as ostrich eggs. Many of the emeralds were stolen the Spanish who ransacked the temples and looted from the priests. The Spanish explorer Pizzaro ordered his soldiers to steal huge emeralds from the Mexicans. However a priest had the last laugh, he told the stupid soldiers that if they wanted to be sure the stones were real they must put them on an anvil and bash them with a hammer to see if they broke. So they bashed all there big stones with a giant hammer and ended up with lots of tiny little emeralds :)

Urban Myths: Hebrews believed that the stone was so brilliant and dazzling that it could turn a serpent blind if it looked at one, Peruvians believed that demons and griffins guarded the emerald mines and the Romans believed that you would have very bad luck if an emerald fell from its setting.

Investment Value: Emeralds represent excellent investment value as they have a stable market price.

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Find Out What Gem is For April Birthdays

Gemstones For April Birthdays

Diamonds for beautiful April People
People born in April get Diamonds as their birthstones. Diamonds are loved world wide and always in big demand because of their clarity and purity that gives off that wonderful sparkle. Sri Lanka is a gem mining island famous for rubies and sapphires but not diamonds as they are not mined in Sri Lanka.
The small tropical island of Sri Lanka sits off the southern tip of Indian a warm blue sea that kisses it's golden shores and although you can find a rich supply of precious and semi precious gems, Diamonds are not on the top of the list so be warned if anyone offers you a white diamond mined in Sri Lanka it's a scam!

Healing Powers of Diamonds

The amazing sparkle that Diamonds have comes from their purity and clarity, this is said to give them great healing powers allowing them to purify and detox the body. Diamonds are strong and unbreakable and so they are known for helping you to build up your bodies strength and stamina and to rebalance the metabolism. The purity of diamonds has lead them to be used in treating allergies and chronic conditions and to help clear glaucoma and to bring greater clarity to sight. Their healing powers are considered so great that they have removed dizziness and vertigo and improved the clarity and functioning of the brain.

Diamonds used to Predict Guilt
Believe it or not Diamonds were once used in trials to decide a persons guilt or innocence. Jewish high priests believed that if a person was innocent the diamond would sparkle when held in front of their face, but if guilty it would be dull and dark.

Famous Diamonds

One of the most famous diamonds in the world is the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, it is found in the crown of England and was a staggering 186 carats. However, it was not a very shiny diamond so Prince Albert had it cut down to just 105 carats trying to improve the shine. Result - smaller diamond still not shiny!

The most famous gem mined in Sri Lanka is the Blue Sapphire, the Sri Lankan sapphire was made extremely popular by Princess Diana who had a massive blue sapphire from Sri lanka in her engagement ring. The gems are mostly mined in Ratnapura which is an unremarkable town in the middle of Sri Lanka.

Traveller Tip 

If you want to buy Gems on your tour of Sri Lanka but are worried about getting ripped off, buy at departure, gems here are a reasonable price. For more useful tips buy my book and save yourself money!

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Planning a tour of Sri Lanka or want to learn more about Sri Lanka? Check out my 5* rated book  Backpacking Sri Lanka guide here

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Get Lucky in Love with an Aquamarine

We have Always Loved Gems!

For centuries men have coveted and women have desired precious and semi precious gemstones. Steeped in myth magic and mysticism gems have enthralled and captivated us. Gemstones have been linked with healing and power since records began, each stone having a different healing power and associated with a particular month in the year when it’s power is at it’s peak.

The First Birthstone Chart

In 1912  the American National Association of Jewelers adopted the modern birthstone list detailing the stones  for each month.  The gemstone birth chart does vary across the world so not every month has an identical stone.

Sri Lanka is a gem producing country most famous for the beautiful dark blue sapphires like the one Prince Charles gave lady Dianna on their Engagement. PRINCESS DIANA’S famous oval cut 18 carat blue sapphire is surrounded by 16 small diamonds in a cluster setting. The ring is now worn by the beautiful Duchess Catherine, who is making the sapphire popular all over again.

Aquamarine For March Babes

According to the Gem association of Sri Lanka Aquamarine is the birthstone for March. Aquamarine named after the colour of the sea can be found in 2 colour tones, you can get light sea green aquamarine which was hugely popular in the 19^th century or sky blue aquamarine. The sky blue aquamarine is the more valuable today. 

Aquamarine Improves Your Love Life!

The very pretty Aquamarine stone has been linked to lovers in many ways, whether as a gift to be given by the groom to the bride or to be given by husbands to rekindle the flames of passion. Perhaps the funniest power attributed to the stone is that of  it’s power to make the owner invincible in battle! So the next  you need to spice up your love life or you have an argument to win, go buy an aquamarine!
If you would like to know more about Sri Lanka and gems then head over to Smashwords and check out my Backpacking guide to Sri Lanka here 

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A Brief history of Sri Lankan Cricket

Sri Lanka's Love of Cricket

The tropical island of Sri Lanka is famous for a number of things. On the one hand Sri Lanka has year round warm weather, sandy beaches, exotic birds, majestic elephants, fabulous good quality tea, and expensive gems. These are all on the good side, whilst on the dark side you have the bloody civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sinhalese that ended only in May 2009 amongst allegations of war crimes and killing fields. However, above all of these things stands Cricket. 

Ask any sporting fan and they will tell you Sri Lanka is 100% famous for it's cricket. Ask any Sri Lankan man and they will tell you in no uncertain terms that  cricket is Sri Lankas pride and joy. As you tour around Sri Lanka you will see it being played everywhere, on the roads in the villages and cities, in the jungle clearings or amidst the paddy fields, on school playing fields or at the beach, in fact you will see cricket being played by young and old where ever your Lanka travels take you. 

British Start Cricket Mania

It was the British who first introduced Cricket to Sri Lanka, back in the days when Sri Lanka was Ceylon and when Britain governed Sri Lanka. In 1882 Sri Lanka played it’s first big match against a British touring side, in those days teams from England and Australia would stop over in Sri Lanka  on their way to play international matches and indulge in a bit of pre-match practice. Teams from Sri Lanka were thrown together and inevitably lost!  

The road to Test match recognition would take another 100 years! Visiting teams continued to stop off and play, Sri Lanka became more organized and structured and yes got better and better. During this 100 years Sri Lanka played many “unofficial test matches” – 51 in total, but their applications to join the International Cricket Council (ICC) were always rejected. Finally in 1981 Mr Gamini Dissanayake persuaded the powers that be to let Sri Lanka join the ICC.  

Sri Lankan Cricketers Get A Break

In 1975 Sri Lanka made their debut in the One Day Internationals, World cup. They played the formidable West Indies they managed 81 runs but lost to the Windies. In 1979 they were back again this time better and stronger, they defeated India and took home the cup.

In 1983, Sri Lanka managed to beat New Zealand and retain the cup but by 1987 in the first World Cup to be played outside of  England, Sri Lanka were defeated  and lost the trophy. In 1992 they showed signs of returning to form and managed to win a couple of matches but there was still room for improvement!

The breakthrough came in 1996, this was the year that the world sat up and took notice of Sri Lankan Cricket. A bomb blast in Colombo caused the Australian and the West Indies teams to pull out, giving Sri Lanka automatic entry into the knock-outs. This time fortune was on their side and  they went on to triumph and take the cup.

At the end of 2015 Sri Lanka had played 66 matches in World Cups, out of which they have won 31 and lost 32.  Most of the losses were before 1996. Since 1996, Sri Lanka are the second most consistent team after Australia, winning 27 of their 41 games.

Planning a holiday or tour of Sri Lanka?  

If you would like to discover more about Sri Lanka or plan a tour of Sri Lanka then why not buy my book, it's a bargain and it's packed with great info on everything you need to know about Sri Lanka.

click HERE  to see more!

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Backpacking Sri Lanka