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Get this. Sapphires are rarer than Diamonds and yet cost a fraction of the price.

Unlike the cartel controlled Diamond business, anyone can 'fossic' for Sapphires here and so small towns on ancient riverbeds have sprung up to service the privately owned mines.

One such mine, which has been opened to Joe Public is the delightfully named 'Bobby Dazzlers'*. 

The mine is open for tours - a five minute affair but one which gives a good idea of what to look for when searching these rare gems - a dried up riverbed with big rocks in it to trap the heavy gems as they was down the stream. You'll also need a big shovel, a sieve and a big bucket of water.

Following this lesson, we return to the surface to try for ourselves.

Now the hard work is digging. But these nice chaps at Bobby Dazzler have pre-dug a few buckets which they swear are untouched since leaving the ground. For a couple of quid you get to sieve the contents, wash the big bits which remain and pick out the ever so obvious dark blue stones. With luck, one will be big, but more important, flawless.

We were lucky. Said stone has now been expertly cut and set into a handmade silver setting - a fitting souvenir for Isobel to wear.

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