Jammu, March 11
When a cushion-cut 22.66 carat Kashmir sapphire set in a pendant and surrounded by diamonds was sold for a world record price of over $ 3 million in April last at Christies, the officials in the cash-starved Jammu and Kashmir Minerals Limited literally felt itching in their hands. For, they were in possession of over16 kg of raw sapphire corundum, which was lying in a Punjab National Bank locker while the staff had not been paid salaries for months due to shortage of funds.
The corporation had not held any auction for its rare wealth for the past 20 years. And finally when it decided to auction the world famous blue sapphire corundum today, the bidders
came rushing from as far as Mumbai and Bangkok.
According to Pawan Kotwal, secretary, industries, the auction received “tremendous response”. There were 70 bidders today. The auction, which was earlier scheduled to be held today only was likely to be extended till tomorrow.
Because, the bidders had shown a lot of interest in the sapphire and they found one day too short to make the right selection.
Maitee, a leading gem trader from Bankok, said he had been into the trade for so many years. He was so far dealing in Sri Lankan and Burmese sapphire only which is considered to be second best to Kashmir. “I had been planning for a long time to trade in Kashmir sapphire, but I could never get it in bulk”, he said, while adding that only small pieces were available.
Kranti Kumar, an octogenarian gem trader who claimed that his family has been into the trade since Mughal period, said the sapphire was still the best in the world. However, he had a word of advice for JK Minerals, which he said, did not know how to value its precious wealth. He said the sapphire was not rightly displayed and it could have been done in a better way.
While the exact amount of money fetched in the auction could not be ascertained so far, but Kotwal said they expected a good business today. Kashmir sapphire is not produced exactly in the Kashmir valley. It is produced in the Paddar area of Kishtwar district in the Jammu region.
These days fine Kashmir sapphires are nearly unobtainable with the exception of estate sales and private collections.
In the near 40 years that the mines were worked, from approximately 1880 to 1920s, at an altitude of 14,600 feet in the remote Paddar area of Kishtwar district, these sapphires have become legendary and fetch handsome amount.
Interestingly, one of the main, if not the only, reasons for the Jammu and Kashmir Minerals to auction its precious wealth was generating funds to pay salaries to its employees who have not been paid for several months.
