NEWS - Thai jeweller unveils monste

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Subject: NEWS - Thai jeweller unveils monster sapphire

Thai jeweller unveils monster sapphire

  
KANCHANABURI, Thailand, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A jeweller in western
Thailand has unveiled a sapphire the size of a football, one of the
largest such precious stones ever found. 

Jeweller Udom Saeheng said the monster gem, weighing 7.1 kg (15.69
pounds), or about 35,000 carats, was found in Kanchanaburi province
about 120 km (73 miles) west of Bangkok. 

``When we first saw it, we thought it was just a piece of rock, but we
tested it thoroughly and found it was a genuine sapphire,'' she told
Reuters. 

Udom said she paid the local who unearthed the stone ``several million
baht'' for it 10 days ago and had not decided what to do with it. 

Showing the blue-coloured stone to journalists, she declined to say what
it might be worth, but added:. ``It's amazing. In my 40-year career,
this is the biggest sapphire I have ever seen.'' 

Large though it is, it is not the biggest sapphire ever found. 

That distinction probably belongs to neighbouring Myanmar, where a
63,000-carat star sapphire was unearthed in 1972. 

($1 - 38.79 baht) 

04:01 11-26-99