They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but there are actually more gems to love than just the ever-popular diamond. Here are some of the rarest and most expensive gemstones ever seen and that being rare, comes with a hefty price tag, too.
1. Jadeite
Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral, which is formed in metamorphic rocks under high pressure and low-temperature conditions. Its color ranges from white to a pale apple green. There are also dark green varieties and can be, lavender, pink and blue-green as well.
These colors are a product of the presence of trace elements of chromium and iron in them. A Jadeite can cost about $3 million per carat.
2. Serendibite
The first Serendibite was discovered in Sri Lanka in 1902. The colors may be blue-gray to blue-green to pale yellow. Other varieties may appear black and even colorless. It also contains a complex formula of calcium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, boron, and oxygen.
Some serendibites can also be found in Burma. They are priced at around $1.8 to 2 million per carat, because of the rarity of this gemstone.
3. Blue garnet
The gem was first discovered in Madagascar in the 1990s and now continues to be mined in Russia, Turkey, and the United States. Its blue color is a result of the ever-changing garnet. It can also look similar to purple-red depending on the angle in which you hold it against incandescent lighting. Other colors that it produces are brown, yellow, green, orange, pink, and red.
Blue Garnet is one of the rarest gemstones, it can sell for about $1.5 million a carat.
4. Painite
The Painite was first discovered in Myanmar by Arthur C.D. Pain, who is a British mineralogist and gemstone dealer. It is a borate mineral that contains calcium, zirconium, boron, aluminum, and oxygen.
It has an orange-red or brownish-red hue that looks similar to topaz. Painite can sell for about $ 50,000 to 60,000 per carat
5. Musgravite
Musgravite is a silicate mineral gemstone that is a member of the taafeite family. It was discovered in the Musgrave Ranges in Australia, where it took its name.
It usually comes in violet color with a little hint of gray, which can appear in lighter or darker shades. This gemstone may cost as much as $35,000 per carat.
6. Grandidierite
This gem first appeared in Southern Madagascar in 1902. It was named after the French explorer Alfred Grandidier. It comes in a bluish-gray color and considered one of the rarest ones, with only about several hundred pieces around the world.
The Grandidierite can be sold for as much as $20,000 to $100,000 per carat.
7. Alexandrite
Alexandrite is a variety of Chrysoberyl. The Alexandrite effect as a result of ambient lighting, which can produce a change of color from green to red. It may appear greenish by day and reddish by incandescent light.
Other varieties of this gem may appear yellow or pink in daylight and raspberry in incandescent lighting. It can sell for as much as $10,000 per carat.
8. Bixbite
Bixbite is a family of the Red Beryl and is one of the rarest gems, which can be found in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah. It was discovered by Maynard Bixby in 1904, an American mineralogist.
Another gem belonging to the red beryl family is the emerald, but the Bixbite is the most prized red beryl with the price of $10,000 per carat.
9. Opal
Opal is abundant in Australia, naming it the country’s national gemstone. It is a hydrated amorphous form of silica, because of this it has been classified as a mineraloid. It is capable of diffracting light, which results in a myriad of colors.
It may have white, red, green, blue, magenta, pink, and orange colors. The rarest color of all is the black opal which can sell for $ 2,355 per carat.
10. Jeremjevite
The jeremjevite was first discovered in Siberia by Pavel Vladimirovich Eremeev, who was a Russian mineralogist. Jeremjevites look like crystal sprays of prism due to the late hydrothermal phase in granitic pegmatites. It can sometimes appear bluish or yellowish in color.
Some varieties of the gem appear white and colorless, too. A carat of this gemstone can reach up to $2000 per carat.
The price tags are only estimates of these precious gemstones. Mostly, these gems are valued by how rare they are, that is the reason why they are so pricey. But, having one of these in your possession is a great privilege, for you have one of the most precious things nature has to offer. These are simply one of the world’s greatest wonders, for how can something so small, be so beautiful?