Our Story
Ceylon Blue Gems is run by the Sallie family that has been involved in the gem business since the 1890s. Mr. Sallie was a pioneer in the gemstone industry in Sri Lanka. His son worked with him in his store and eventually became a gemstone trader himself. Thereafter, every other generation followed in their footsteps up until today.
In 1941 Ceylon Blue Gems under the leadership of Mr. Sallie’s son opened a Major Trading office in Beruwala. Subsequently in 1977, Mr. Sallie’s grandson opened another office in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka keeping them at the heart of the gem mining operation until today. The Ceylon Blue Gems website was launched in 2010 by Mr. Sallie’s great grandson, Mr. Azam Sallie to support the Ceylon Blue Gems online activities. He is currently the running the family gem business after taking over the reins from his father in 2000 and focusing his attention to the export business.
Ceylon Blue Gems sources rough stones from Ratnapura, and then proceed to Beruwala where they would cut and polish to produce high quality gemstones. These gemstones were then sold initially in Beruwala and in Colombo and later throughout Sri Lanka and the entire world.
Like most merchants across the world, Ceylon Blue Gems often trade at International Gem and Jewellery exhibitions and have sold at markets across China, England, France, Bangkok, Hong Kong and America for almost 8 years.
Ceylon Blue Gems offers access to an array of gemstones and jewellery from all over the world from small tumble stones to large collector pieces. We also stock one of a kind handmade pieces of jewellery. Ceylon Blue Gems has access to gemstones direct from the miners and travel the world to countries such as Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania & Burma to find unique gemstones. We are dedicated to providing these gemstones to our customers at fair prices.
Our main focus has always been on service. Sourcing and stocking fine gemstones for our customers to call on when they need them. This enables the jeweller to keep their own inventory to a minimum, better manage their cash flow by only tying up capital in stock they are manufacturing, and focus on the creative and selling side of their business, knowing that their sourcing needs can be taken care of by us.
Director Profile
Mr. Azam Hussain Sallie is a businessman and investor with over 20 years’ experience in the IT industry. He holds a Bachelor of Information Technology and is a significant Ceylon Blue Gems shareholder. Mr. Azam has a high energy, focused and is a team builder. Since his father’s retirement, Mr. Azam has moved into the family gemstone business to lead Ceylon Blue Gems to reach new heights.
Our philosophy
Vision
We aspire to be the world’s leading environmentally responsible, human rights-minded, global suppliers of high quality gemstones and bridge income disparities throughout the gem industry by creating a suitable working culture that will provide honorable livelihood to employees at all levels of the supply chain. Moreover, we wish to serve as an example to other companies by implementing business practices in accordance with the highest levels of ethical standards. Most of all we aim to faithfully serve our customers with the highest values of honesty, integrity, and customer care.
Mission
To source rare and fine-quality gemstones through sustainable exploration to supply the International markets at reasonable prices whilst engaging in routine social initiatives.
At Ceylon Blue Gems, we follow a simple business philosophy, to devote our resources, craftsmanship, technology and processes to create superior products and services, which will be considered a benchmark in the industry. Each day we strive our hardest to bring this philosophy to life by utilizing only the best raw materials, highly talented craftsmen, state-of-the-art technology and effective processes while maintaining our integrity and ethical standards.
We have pioneered many innovative customer service processes, which have become benchmark standards in the trade and we aim to further improve our customer service processes in the future. Our motivation is to bring joy, optimism and beauty into the lives of as many people as possible, all around the globe. Our motto “Always do what’s best for the customer” has helped us to always be ahead of our competitors.