About Us

Ethically sourced. Expertly graded. 

Pictured: Anna, our in-house FGAA-qualified Gemmologist, deep inside one of our Ceylon sapphire mines.

From our Ceylon mines to your hands

We don't simply buy gemstones — we're there at the very source, where they are born. Pictured above is Anna Lulinkova, our FGAA-qualified Gemmologist, deep within one of our Ceylon mines, where she works side by side with our valued mining staff, who know this earth best. From the moment a rough stone is unearthed, through its expert cutting and careful hand-polishing, to the day it finally rests in your hands, every gem is guided by her trained eye and heartfelt passion. It is this rare, hands-on journey — direct from the source, ethical at every step, and made with genuine love — that lets us offer you not merely a gemstone, but a treasure to cherish forever.

At Ministry of Gems, we believe a gemstone should be as honest as it is beautiful. We specialise in natural Ceylon and Australian sapphires, opals, and fine handcrafted jewellery — each piece chosen for its colour, character and integrity.

Three generations. Seven decades. One lineage.

Our story begins in the 1960s, when my grandfather first worked the fabled Ceylon gem fields. Three generations later, I brought that lineage to Australia as Ministry of Gems, from our Sydney studio — to carry that lineage forward and bring our family’s sapphires, mine to market, direct to you. No middlemen; just provenance you can trace to the source.

Ministry of Gems carries a family gem heritage three generations deep, reaching back some seven decades in the fabled gem trade of Ceylon. Ours is a truly vertically integrated, mine-to-market house: from our own mines, through expert cutting and polishing, to FGAA-qualified grading, every stone travels a single unbroken path from the earth to your hands. It is a lineage — and a level of provenance — that very few jewellers anywhere can offer, and it is woven into every Ceylon sapphire and gemstone in our collection.

Meet Anna Lulinkova — Managing Director & FGAA-Qualified Gemmologist

Anna Lulinkova is the Managing Director and in-house gemmologist of Ministry of Gems®, qualified through the Gemmological Association of Australia (FGAA). Every stone the house sells passes through her hands, and every gemmological word we publish is written by her.

Anna's work does not begin at a desk — it begins underground. She travels to our mines in Sri Lanka and works alongside our miners as rough crystal first meets daylight, then follows each stone through cutting, polishing and formal grading before it is offered to you. It is rare for a qualified gemmologist to witness a gem's entire journey first-hand — and it is precisely that unbroken chain of custody that lets us stand behind the quality, authenticity and ethics of every gem we sell. Curious what an FGAA gemmologist actually does? Read our guide.

What Anna is responsible for

• Grading every stone in Sydney — colour, clarity, cut and carat assessed in-house rather than accepted from a supplier's paperwork.
• Treatment disclosure — determining whether a stone is heated or unheated, oiled or untreated, and stating it plainly on every listing without exception.
• Selection at source — choosing rough at our Sri Lankan gem fields, and hand-selecting the rubies, emeralds and opals we do not mine ourselves.
• Certification — arranging independent laboratory reports and interpreting them for clients.
• Free lifetime re-authentication — re-examining any stone we have sold, for as long as its owner holds it.

Written by Anna

Anna is the author of the house's entire published library — twenty-four full-length buyer's handbooks and more than seventy articles, all free to read and written for buyers rather than for marketing. Among them:

• The Sapphire Buyer's Handbook — colour, origin, heat treatment and certification
• The Certification Handbook — which laboratories matter and how to read a report line by line
• The Price of Colour — how coloured gemstones are actually priced
• The Ruby Buyer's Handbook · Emerald · Opal — species by species
• The Care & Heirloom Handbook — cleaning, storage and passing stones down

The complete collection is in The Library, and her ongoing writing appears in The Journal.

Connect with Anna professionally on LinkedIn.

Ask the gemmologist

Enquiries about a specific stone, a certificate you have been shown elsewhere, or a treatment you are unsure of are answered by Anna personally. Contact the gemmologist or enquire as a trade buyer.

Every stone, assessed in-house

We don't simply take a supplier's word for it. Every gemstone is examined and graded in-house by our gemmologist, qualified through the Gemmological Association of Australia (FGAA). When you buy from us, you're buying a stone whose quality and authenticity have been verified by an expert — not just a label.

Ethically and responsibly sourced

We source our gemstones with care, prioritising ethical and responsible supply. Australia's sapphire fields and Sri Lanka's renowned Ceylon mines give us access to some of the world's most beautiful natural sapphires — and we are committed to bringing them to you the right way.

An Australian house — owned, operated, accountable here

Our roots are three generations deep in Ceylon’s gem fields, since the 1960s. Our home is Australia. Ministry of Gems® is 100% Australian owned and operated — registered here (ABN 85 635 892 732), run from Sydney, and bound by Australian law on every sale. The Australian Consumer Law’s consumer guarantees apply in full to every consumer purchase — and because we are here, those rights are simple to exercise: an Australian company within easy reach of Australian regulators and Australian courts, standing behind every stone, with no offshore seller to chase.

We are also guests on ancient land. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia — including the Darug people, on whose land our Sydney workshop stands — and pay our respects to Elders past and present. The Australian sapphire fields we source from lie on Country that Traditional Custodians have known and cared for over tens of thousands of years, and we source from those fields mindful of that continuing connection.

Handcrafted fine jewellery

From classic sapphire rings to one-of-a-kind statement pieces, our jewellery is crafted to be treasured for years to come. Whether you choose a loose stone or a finished piece, you are getting a genuine, natural gemstone set with care.

Vertically integrated: from our mines to jewellery design and manufacturing

Pictured: Anna, our FGAA Gemmologist, closely inspecting jewellery production.

Ministry of Gems is one of the few truly vertically integrated jewellers in Australia: we source natural gemstones in-house directly from mines in Sri Lanka, cut and polish them, and complete the journey with jewellery design and manufacturing. Back from the deep underground mines, Anna closely inspects every gemstone and every piece of jewellery in production with the same innate passion and enthusiasm; because our clients' ultimate satisfaction is the motivation and drive behind everything we do. With no middlemen at any step, every handcrafted sapphire ring, pendant and bespoke commission carries one unbroken signature of quality, ethics and value. Explore our handcrafted jewellery, sapphire rings and loose gemstones.

Why choose Ministry of Gems

• Natural, ethically sourced Ceylon and Australian sapphires and opals
• Every stone graded in-house by an FGAA-qualified gemmologist
• Handcrafted fine jewellery
• Free shipping across Australia
• Easy 30-day returns

Get in touch

Have a question, or looking for something specific? We would love to help. Email us at sales@ministryofgems.com.au — we personally answer every enquiry.

Ministry of Gems® in the News

We're proud to have been featured in the media for our commitment to quality, credibility and ethically sourced gemstones. Here's a selection of our press coverage:

• Ada Derana Biz English — Ministry of Gems® makes its mark in Australia and the world with credibility and quality (February 2024)
• The Good PR — Ministry of Gems® makes its mark in Australia and the world with credibility and quality (January 2024)

See It With Your Own Eyes

Words are easy — so we filmed the truth. Step inside our Ceylon sapphire mines, twenty metres underground, then watch how our gold jewellery is made — from blue wax to solid gold — inside our own Sri Lankan jewellery factory. One family, every step, on camera. New films on our YouTube channel.

What Ministry of Gems is

Ministry of Gems® is an Australian gem house dealing in natural Ceylon and Australian sapphires, rubies, emeralds and opals, together with fine jewellery made around them. The family has worked the Ceylon gem fields across three generations, reaching back to the 1960s. We mine our own ground in Sri Lanka, cut and polish in our own workshop, and grade every stone in Sydney — one chain, from the gravel to your hand, with no middlemen along it.

Every stone is assessed in-house by Anna Lulinkova, our Managing Director and an FGAA-qualified gemmologist. We sell 100% natural, earth-mined gemstones only — as a matter of company policy we do not sell synthetic or man-made stones, an ethos the family has held since the 1960s. Treatment is disclosed on every stone without exception — heated stones are named as heated, unheated stones are identified as unheated, and our current disclosure is published openly in the Treatment Register. Independent laboratory certification is available on request, and every stone carries free lifetime re-authentication for as long as you own it. An independent valuation certificate — prepared on request by a qualified independent valuer for insurance purposes — is available with every purchase, ready-made or bespoke.

We also publish what we know, free and without a sign-up: a 168-term gemmological lexicon, twenty-five full-length buyer’s handbooks and reports and an ongoing journal — all written and fact-checked by our gemmologist. Trade and wholesale enquiries are welcome via our trade desk.