Plot thickens in Dubai ruby saga as sale stalls

Dar es Salaam. The Burj Alhamal ruby, the “crown jewel” of SJ Gold & Diamond Callisto Collection, was supposed to have gone on sale a few days following the end of the holy month of Ramadhan.

A month after the proposed auction, questions continue to linger regarding the authenticity of claims linked to the ruby, its value and origin.

However, with each passing day, it becomes more evident that the precious stone might take long to get a buyer, or, worse still, not get a buyer at all, after experts poked holes in its valuation and origin.

In an email sent to The Citizen, Mr Patrick Pilati, Managing Director of SJ Gold & Diamond Trading DMCC, categorically refused to answer questions on the key issues.

“We are collaborating with the government of Tanzania in several joint mineral operations and we are bound to a non-disclosure agreement,” he said.

However, Minerals minister Doto Biteko distanced the government from any such dealings, saying he was not aware of anything of the sort.

“As far as I am concerned, the government of Tanzania does not have any dealings with either the company, or individuals representing its interests,” he told The Citizen.

In a follow-up email, which was also copied to the Minerals Commission, Mr Neil Walsh, Group Managing Director of SJ Global Investments, admitted that there was some confusion regarding the ruby.

He did not elaborate in his two-paragraph email to this writer.

However, Mr Walsh also refused to entertain any questions regarding the widely debunked claims of the Burj Alhamal ruby being a record breaking precious stone from Winza, Tanzania, with a market value of over $120 million (Sh276 billion).

Why Winza?

When SJ Gold and Diamond Collection first hinted that the ruby was from Winza, authorities in the Minerals ministry categorically refuted these claims, and so did gemstone experts.

“That stone isn’t from Winza. It’s from Longido. We who have dealt in gemstones over the years can easily differentiate between the two as the green zoisite matrix is typical of Longido, and has never been seen in Winza,” said one expert who preferred anonymity.

It has emerged that the owners of the Burj Alhamal used Winza as the gemstone’s origin given the value attached to stones from that area in Dodoma Region.

Ruby expert Jeffery Bergman of EighthDimensionGems.com in Bangkok, Thailand, told The Citizen that extra-fine quality rubies from Winza could be “very expensive”.

“I have seen a 4.00-carat vivid red and near-flawless piece which fetched $100,000 per carat.”

In stark contrast to transparent glass-clear and vivid red-coloured rubies from Winza, material from Longido is typically opaque and purplish, as GIA reports indicate.

Mr Bergman also admitted that this could have been the primary motivation for SJ Gold & Diamond’s claim that the Burj Alhamal was from Winza, and not Longido.

The Citizen has since obtained copies of 25 GIA gemological reports of rubies in the Callisto Collection.

The specimens are typically described as translucent to opaque, variegated purplish red, green and black, thus verifying they are all very low non-gem grade specimens.

So far, no documentation has been presented regarding the “crown jewel” Burj Alhamal ruby, which was first claimed to weigh 8,400 carats (1.68kg) and then 2.8kg, but whose actual weight was established to be weigh 3.4kg.