Timeless Gems Of Fascination
I am Hana Amani, the sixth generation of my family to continue this gemstone tradition. Time travel with me through the histroy and archives of, Gems of Fascination.
I grew up surrounded by gemstones. Long before I understood their monetary value, I understood their fascination. Sapphires, rubies, moonstones and other natural treasures were never distant luxury objects to me. They carried stories of Sri Lanka, of journeys across oceans, of exhibitions and collectors, of craftspeople and mines, and of generations of my own family who had devoted their lives to understanding and sharing them.
I specialize in natural coloured gemstones and fine jewellery, with a particular connection to the sapphires of Sri Lanka. I see jewellery not simply as adornment, but as something much older and more enduring, an intersection of geology, craftsmanship, culture, memory and human desire.
Through The Jewelry Anthropologist, I also explore the histories and cultures surrounding the objects we treasure: how gemstones have travelled across civilizations, how jewellery has communicated identity and power, and why human beings have remained fascinated by precious objects for thousands of years.
The name Gems of Fascination is itself part of this history.
Nearly a century after Prince M.U.M. Salie presented his extraordinary star sapphires and rubies to the world through “A Gem of Fascination,” I carry that fascination forward.
Six generations. Across oceans, cultures and time. An enduring family romance with the world’s most fascinating gemstones.
Six Generations of Gem Romantics
(Both my great grandfathers and my great great grandfather, M.U.M Salie, at the Chicago World's Fair 1933)
In 1869, Mohamed Usuff Mohamed Salie, known as Prince M.U.M. Salie, was born in the bustling Indian Ocean seaport of Galle, on the island of Sri Lanka. By the time of his birth, Sri Lanka already possessed an ancient gemstone tradition stretching back more than 2,000 years, celebrated throughout the world for its extraordinary sapphires, moonstones and other precious stones drawn from its gem-rich earth.
Salie would take this tradition far beyond the shores of the island.
His first great adventure began at just fourteen years old, on the ramparts of Galle Fort. Around 1885, the young Salie planned to stow away aboard a ship that would eventually carry him from Sri Lanka to Melbourne, Australia, in search of the beautiful Australian opal. There, he learned about opal and began purchasing stones in the rough, carrying them by hand back to Sri Lanka. His family of skilled artisan lapidarists, already part of an established tradition of cutting and polishing sapphires and moonstones in Galle, transformed the Australian rough into finished gemstones.
(Left: M.U.M Salie, Right: Elsie Goldsbrough)
During his time in Australia, Salie met Elsie Goldsborough of Melbourne. They fell in love and married in 1899. Elsie quickly developed her own knowledge of gemstones, and together they travelled the world with their young children, bringing Sri Lankan sapphires, Australian opals, moonstones and other exotic gemstones to international exhibitions and important markets.
(Left: Elise Goldsbrough's Family, Australia, Right: M.U.M Salie's Family, Galle Sri Lanka)
Their lives became intertwined with the stones they carried, a family story shaped by gemstones, travel, craftsmanship and an enduring fascination with the natural world.
(Christ Church New Zealand International Exhibition Certificate)
Elsie and Prince M.U.M. Salie’s first major international exhibition as a family was the New Zealand International Exhibition, held at Hagley Park in Christchurch from November 1906 to April 1907. There, Salie was awarded a gold medal for his display of gems and jewellery from Sri Lanka and opals from Australia.
From 1915 to 1936, Salie and his family participated in significant expositions throughout the United States, including the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, commemorating the opening of the Panama Canal and a new era of oceanic trade through the Pacific. Once again, Salie's display of gemstones received recognition.
(Panama-Pacific International Exposition Certificate)
By the 1920s, he had expanded his presence to Miami Beach, Florida, then a playground of the international elite. At his newly built villa on Dade Boulevard, Salie hosted extravagant dinner parties where he introduced guests to the fine gemstones and curiosities of his beloved Sri Lanka.
Then, in 1933, Salie and his sons travelled to Chicago for A Century of Progress International Exposition, the Chicago World's Fair. It was here that he presented his remarkable collection of Star Sapphires and Star Rubies in an exhibit called “Star Sapphire A Gem of Fascination.”
These rare stones displayed the extraordinary optical phenomenon known as asterism, a luminous star appearing to float and move across the surface of the gemstone as it catches the light. The mysterious stones captivated visitors, attracting movie stars, collectors and influential figures who came to marvel at these gemstones which seemed almost alive.
Inspired by the extraordinary response, on September 18, 1933, Prince M.U.M. Salie gifted 55 examples of these remarkable Sri Lankan stones to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, allowing future generations to experience the same fascination.
(Field Museum of Natural History Certificate)
But Salie's story did not end with him.
His fascination with gemstones became part of a family tradition that continued from one generation to the next, eventually passing to his grandchildren Farida Salie and her husband, Yahiya Farook.
(Farida and Yahiya Farook)
Farida and Yahiya became deeply active in the international gemstone trade, extending the family's presence into the important gem and jewellery markets of Hong Kong, Japan, and East Asia while remaining firmly connected to Sri Lanka, the source of the stones themselves. In Japan and Hong Kong, they developed relationships with leading luxury retailers, jewellery houses and discerning clientele, supplying and introducing exceptional Sri Lankan gemstones to some of Asia's most sophisticated luxury markets. Their work continued a tradition that was established generations earlier: taking the extraordinary gemstones of Sri Lanka from their place of origin to jewellers, collectors and connoisseurs around the world.
(Farida and Yahiya Farook at Harumi International Trade Fair, Tokyo circa 1974))
(Beijing China 2001 High Jewelry Exhibit)
Farida Salie established her own presence within a gemstone trade historically dominated by men, carrying forward generations of family knowledge while also helping create a place for other women within the craft. Over the course of her career, she became particularly known for her discerning eye for fancy-coloured collector gemstones, unusual, exceptional stones chosen for the distinctive character, rarity and beauty of their colour.
(Farida Farook Circa 1973)
Most prominently, Farida developed a specialization in one of Sri Lanka's most coveted and elusive treasures: the Padparadscha sapphire. Celebrated for its extraordinary meeting of pink and orange hues, the Padparadscha occupies a rarefied place within the world of natural sapphires and became a defining part of Farida's expertise and collection.
Her ability to recognize exceptional colour and character became part of the knowledge she passed to the generations after her. For Farida, the fascination of a gemstone lay not simply in conventional perfection, but in finding the rare, unusual, and extraordinary stones with an individuality that made them worthy of being collected and treasured.
(Padparadscha Sapphire, Sri Lanka)
Throughout these generations, the family has maintained an enduring relationship with the source of its gemstones. Rather than becoming removed from the origins of the stones as the business expanded internationally, relationships with trusted sources, craftspeople, and the gem-producing regions and mines of Sri Lanka have remained central to the family tradition. These long-standing connections allow an understanding of a gemstone's journey, from the earth, to the cutter, to the jeweller and ultimately to its collector, to remain at the heart of the family's approach.
(Farida Farook, Ratnapura Sri Lanka, 1998)
For the family, gemstones were never simply a business. They were part of everyday life, sourced, examined, cut, collected, traded and admired, with knowledge passing naturally from one generation to another.
(Farida and Yahiya Farook, Private Gem exhibition Kuwait, Circa 1982)
(Aly Farook)
My father , Aly Farook, followed in the tradition, carrying the family's gemstone legacy into another generation. Building upon the knowledge inherited from his parents and the generations before him, Aly was the first in the family to graduate from the G.I.A. Gemmology program (1987) and completed professional programs in gemcutting and jewelry manufacturing.
(Gem colour grading, Sri Lanka)
In 1991 my father modernized the family lapidary in Sri Lanka, introducing a more technical and geometric cutting system complimentary to the traditional Sri lankan cutting culture. This opened up new job prospects for the local economy of sri lankan cutters.The focus of this program was to assist underprivileged female and orphan workers to enter the job market. Through training and employment, these artisans were able to develop a specialized craft and build careers within the gemstone industry, creating opportunities that extended beyond the stones themselves
At the same time, he maintained the family's long-standing relationships with Sri Lanka's gem-producing regions, trusted sources and mines, continuing a tradition of remaining closely connected to the origins of the stones, maintaining the culture from mine to market in the most sustainable way.
(Ibrahim Farook Gem Mining, Sri Lanka )
(Ibrahim Farook , Gem cutting , Sri Lanka)
(Aly Farook, Sri Lanka)
Aly, a true concierge of exquisite gemstones, also brought the family's gemstone business further into the North American market, developing new relationships with jewellery designers, collectors and bespoke clients by continuing to specialize in natural coloured gemstones and fine jewellery. He complemented the knowledge passed down through generations with formal gemological training through the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), bringing together inherited expertise, contemporary gemological education and decades of experience within the trade.
Through his work, the family tradition continued to evolve while remaining rooted in the principles that had defined it for generations: knowledge of the stone, relationships at the source, skilled craftsmanship, and an enduring appreciation for the rarity and character of natural gemstones.
(Aly, Michelle and Ibrahim Farook, Tucson Show)
Hana Amani Jewelry is the passion of bringing natural gems of fascination into ever lasting exquisite jewels to those who desire the rare and magical.
At the heart of my practice is the belief that jewelry is not merely adornment, but art in motion. My work exists at the intersection of sculpture, philosophy, gemmology, and the intimate architecture of the human body. I approach each piece as a personal sculpture—something created to live upon the body and respond to its movement, emotion, spirit, and form.
My work is deeply informed by my Sri Lankan sapphire heritage and by my curiosity about the relationship between the body and the objects we choose to carry upon it. Through jewelry, I explore how ideas can be worn—how thought, shape, material, and meaning can converge into a single expressive form.
Sapphires hold a particularly personal place within my practice. I come from a long lineage of Sri Lankan gem traders, where knowledge of gemstones, particularly sapphires, has been passed from one generation to the next. Growing up within this world gave me an understanding of gemstones not simply as precious materials, but as objects carrying histories, landscapes, human relationships, and stories.
This inherited connection forms the foundation of my creative practice today. It informs the stones I am drawn to, the way I understand their individual character, and the depth of meaning I seek to bring to each sculptural design. In many ways, working with sapphires allows me to carry my heritage forward while creating a visual language that is distinctly my own.
My approach is rooted in philosophy and an ongoing exploration of presence, duality, and transformation. I look to nature, where line, tension, balance, and creation emerge without force, and to the human body as a form of living architecture. Its curves, edges, proportions, and rhythms become part of the design itself.
For me, jewelry becomes complete when it meets the body. It is in that relationship between stone, sculpture, movement, and the person wearing it that the piece truly comes alive.