Production and distribution of sapphires from Andranondambo, Malagasy

Super royal blue sapphire of about 4 ct

Dealers report a monthly average of 100 kg of rough, of gem or near-gem quality. The stones are primarily marketed through Thailand and Switzerland. A large proportion of the crystals are less than 4mm in size, but approximately 15% of the gem quality stones are reported to yield cut gems above 2cts. To date, a number of 15-20 cts. cut specimens have been seen in the trade, with exceptional pieces of even larger sizes (cf. Schwarz et al., 1996).

The largest piece of rough Madagascan sapphire, which was found in the first half of 1996 and later appeared in Bangkok, weighs 895 000 cts. (17.9 kg), though originating from another source.