Gem City Ratnapura 2026 brings an international exhibition to the gravels

The National Gem and Jewellery Authority is holding Gem City Ratnapura 2026 from 31 August to 2 September 2026 at the Grand Silver Ray Hotel in Ratnapura. The NGJA states the exhibition runs under the theme Home to the Finest and is intended to strengthen Ratnapura’s position as a global gem and jewellery hub.

According to the authority’s own announcement, the event will showcase Sri Lankan gemstones, jewellery, craftsmanship and innovations. It is expected to bring together local and international buyers, traders and industry professionals.

Why the location is the story

Sri Lanka’s gem exhibitions are usually held in Colombo. FACETS Sri Lanka has run in the capital for decades. Gem Sri Lanka moved its third edition from Beruwala to Colombo, which its organisers described as a step closer to international markets.

Ratnapura is different. It is where the gravels are, where the pit mines are worked and where the daily market runs. Holding an international exhibition there puts overseas buyers within reach of the source rather than the showroom floor.

It also puts them near the part of the trade that is hardest to photograph for a brochure. Mining in the district is still largely hand worked, in shallow pits cut into paddy land, with the gravel washed and sorted by eye. A buyer who has seen that once tends to ask better questions afterwards.

What this means if you are buying

Very little, directly. This is a trade event, not a retail one. What it signals is worth noting: the regulator is investing in Ratnapura as a place buyers should come to and be seen in, rather than a place stones quietly leave.

For anyone buying a Ceylon stone from abroad, the practical question stays the same. Ask which laboratory issued the report, ask for the report number and check it against that laboratory’s own lookup before you pay.

We buy in this valley. Every stone we list is bought at the mines and gem markets of Ratnapura and Elahera, then cut and polished in Sri Lanka. You can read how we work, or see what is currently available.