27.37 ct Natural Ceylon Yellow Sapphire Rough – Unheated Facet Grade from Marapana, Sri Lanka

Stone Identity & Quality

This is a 27.37 ct natural Ceylon yellow sapphire rough measuring 16 × 15.95 × 11.6 mm, sourced from Marapana village around mining in Sri Lanka.

The stone is currently unheated and classified as facet-grade rough because it contains usable transparent and cleaner areas suitable for professional cutting evaluation.

The rough also contains natural inclusions. Rather than treating this as a single fixed-quality stone, the material should be considered according to different cutting and clarity objectives.

Color & Visual Characteristics

The rough shows a strong natural yellow body appearance.

Depending on lighting direction, thickness, and transmitted illumination, some areas appear brighter and more transparent while other portions show deeper yellow concentration and more visible internal structure.

Because the stone is relatively large and deep, its apparent tone changes as the viewing direction changes. This is normal for rough sapphire and is one of the reasons cutting orientation matters.

Internal & External Features

The rough contains a combination of:

– cleaner facet-grade sections

– eye-clean potential areas

– slightly included areas

– more included zones

– natural internal features

– rough surface characteristics

– substantial usable depth

These variations create different cutting possibilities.

A cutter seeking higher clarity may choose to remove more included sections and work only with the cleanest areas. A buyer prioritizing larger finished weight may accept more visible inclusions in exchange for stronger weight retention.

Cutting Potential

This stone offers several possible cutting paths.

For clean stones:

The cleanest internal sections can be isolated, but this may require cutting the rough into smaller pieces or sacrificing more weight.

For eye-clean stones:

A balanced approach may allow larger finished stones while keeping inclusions less noticeable in normal viewing.

For slightly included stones:

More of the original rough may be retained, potentially allowing a larger finished size.

For maximum yield:

A cutter may choose to preserve a larger included section rather than removing every natural internal feature.

This is an important principle in rough gemstone cutting: higher clarity normally requires more selective material removal, while larger yield often requires accepting more of the natural internal character.

Exact finished weights, number of stones, shapes, and clarity grades cannot be guaranteed before detailed preforming and cutting.

Why Marapana Yellow Sapphire Is Interesting

Marapana is a well-known Sri Lankan gem-producing locality associated in the local trade with attractive yellow sapphire material.

Yellow sapphire from this broader source environment can vary in tone, clarity, saturation, and internal structure, so each rough must still be evaluated individually.

This particular piece stands out because of its large 27.37 ct starting weight, strong yellow appearance, substantial depth, and multiple usable cutting zones.

Source & Ethical Position

Danushka Gems & Minings works directly around Sri Lanka’s gemstone-producing regions, sourcing rough through miners, mine owners, local buyers, and established source dealers.

Our approach is practical and transparent.

We do not represent every included rough as high clarity, and we do not promise unrealistic finished weights. Instead, we show the stone’s real internal structure and explain how different cutting choices may affect clarity and yield.

For large sapphire rough like this, the correct cutting decision should be based on the customer’s final purpose, whether that means maximizing clarity, size, jewelry usability, or overall recovery.