{
  "id": 15311265,
  "title": "Lankan rubies among treasures of London’s Cheapside Hoard",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/lankan-rubies-among-treasures-of-londons-cheapside-hoard",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-18T00:00:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Island Sri Lanka",
    "slug": "the-island-sri-lanka",
    "url": "http://island.lk/lankan-rubies-among-treasures-of-londons-cheapside-hoard/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Sri Lanka's rubies are among the remarkable treasures discovered over a century ago in London's renowned Cheapside Hoard, which will soon be showcased permanently at the London Museum's Goldsmiths' Gallery. This collection, consisting of nearly 500 jewels and precious objects, was accidentally unearthed in 1912 when a workman's pickaxe struck through the floor of a cellar at 30-32 Cheapside, near St Paul's Cathedral. The cellar had reportedly remained sealed for nearly three centuries.\n\nThe hoard consists of a diverse assortment of gems, including sapphires, spinels, diamonds, and rubies sourced from India and Sri Lanka. It also features an emerald-set gold watch adorned with a large Colombian emerald, nephrite jade from China, Persian turquoise, pearls, and opals. Among the more unusual items is an ancient gem portraying the head of a Ptolemaic queen, intricately carved in Egypt during the second or first century BC.\n\nThe Cheapside Hoard, primarily comprising Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery, is considered one of the most significant discoveries of its kind. Its history and the importance of the jewelry to global trade will be explored by art curator and lecturer Amanda Herries during an upcoming ArtsNational Noosa meeting in Australia on October 24. Herries, who studied archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge University, served as a curator at the London Museum from 1978 to 1988.\n\nIt is believed that the jewels were hidden intentionally for a future return. Some of the jewels were reportedly taken by workers, but antiquities dealer George Fabian Lawrence, also known as \"Stony Jack,\" acquired a significant portion of the collection and played a crucial role in preserving it. The precise circumstances surrounding the hoard's burial remain unclear, though scholars theorize that it was concealed by someone anticipating its eventual retrieval.",
  "summary": "Rubies and other precious stones from Sri Lanka are among the extraordinary treasures discovered more than a century ago in London’s famous Cheapside Hoard, which is set to go on permanent display next month at the London Museum’s new Goldsmiths’ Gallery. The hoard, comprising nearly 500 jewels and precious objects, was accidentally discovered in 1912 […]",
  "key_points": [
    "Sri Lanka's rubies among Cheapside Hoard treasures",
    "Collection of 500 jewels and precious objects discovered in 1912",
    "Cheapside Hoard includes Ptolemaic queen gem and Colombian emerald"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}