The Earth is a gem among Planets

One of the finest gifts
from earth
is the natural sapphire

natural Srilanka sapphires

Natural Burmese Spinels

Natural Gemstones

Every Wennick–Lefèvre gemstone is natural and untreated
– and we know the story of every single one.

At Wennick–Lefèvre, we don’t believe in treating gemstones. For us, a treated gemstone is as inauthentic as gold plated jewellery.
Only a natural gemstone is a true representation of our planet – pure, beautiful and complex.

Every natural gemstone is a beautiful reminder of how fortunate we are to be here on Earth.

NATURAL GEMSTONES

Natural untreated gemstones are rare, far rarer than diamonds
– and each one is unique.

Nearly all gemstones are cut and polished, but only one in every one hundred is of high enough quality to remain natural. The others require some form of treatment – usually heat treatment – to enhance their beauty. However, any treatment turns the sapphires into something man-made and the connection to nature lost.

At Wennick–Lefèvre, we don’t believe in treating gemstones. For us, a treated gemstone is as inauthentic as gold plated jewellery.
Only a natural gemstone is a true representation of our planet – pure, beautiful and complex.

Every Wennick–Lefèvre sapphire is natural and untreated – and we know the story of every one.

Only sapphires from Madagascar come in all colours of the rainbow.

Relations

Gemstone trading is a business to us, but trust and respect are vital and lead to lasting partnerships.

At Wennick–Lefèvre it is natural to have close relationships with all the people we meet and deal with.

Athula and Svend are looking at newly mined sapphires from the river.

Aruwan and Rishans invite miners to their office.

Local trading in the streets of Ilakaka.

Sanjeewa examining sapphires for clarity under a tree, a typical scene in Ilakaka.

Tea break in Sanjeewas cutting factory in Kuruwita.

Sapphire rough are best seen in daylight.

CUTTING

Our stones are cut in Sanjeewa’s workshop in Kuruwita, near Rathnapura in Sri Lanka.

We first met Sanjeewa, our stone-cutter, in a friend’s office in Bangkok in 2008. Sanjeewa was looking for investors for a new workshop and business venture. We agreed to invest and today the workshop has 75 employees.

Cutting a natural sapphire takes time and patience. Every gemstone refracts and reflects the light in a certain way and an experienced cutter gets to know each stone intimately as he or she works.

The first stage of cutting, called preforming, is the most important and it should always be done by an experienced master cutter. Once the stone has been preformed, the facets are cut and the stone is polished. This takes time. An experienced cutter can cut and polish around ten small stones a day. Larger stones can take several days.

The men and women working at Sanjeewa’s workshop are in their mid twenties to late fourties, the master cutters are older. They are coming from the area around the small village of Kuruwita, near Rathnapura, where this expertise has been accumulated over centuries.