(From news in Indian express on May6,2009)
Imagine owning a rare Gem for 28 years without realising its intrinsic worth! Jaleel Emmanual Narayanan had been doing just that till he read Gemstones by British author Cally Hall. Ever since it has been confirmed that the precious stone which resembles Mother Mary and baby Jesus is 'Chalcedony', Jaleel has been having sleepless nights. For, the gem is worth a whopping $2Million!.
The 11.96 carat, half inch something stone was among the 40 pieces Jaleel ourchased from Saidi Arabia in 1981. He has even got certified by the department of mining and Geology and an authenticated sale certificate from the owner.
"Cally hall'd book mentioned the rarity of chalcedony stones. I sent an email to Cally Hall who asked me to come to America where we could sell it for $2Million", claims Jaleel.
But jaleel is not confident about travelling to America without getting Guarentee. "I'll sell it if I get Rs.100 Crore", says Jaleel a gemmologist from Kodungalloor. " "I have a couple of other pieces, including a 'half moon' and a 'cloud', says Jaleel, an ex-hardware businessman.
"I picked this up along with a couple of others from a heap in the Gulf. I collecetd 40 pieces and paid around Rs 50,000," Jaleel said...... His website is www.gemwonderful.com