It takes millions of years for crystals to form in nature, and only a fraction of those will ever be found, mined, cut and sold as gemstones. The value of gemstones depends on many factors, including rarity, quality, setting, and even politics.
Let's take a look at some of the world's most expensive and rarest gemstones.
10. PainitePainite is a very rare borate mineral. It was first found in Myanmar by British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. Pain in the 1950s. When it was confirmed as a new mineral species, the mineral was named after him.
For many years, only three small painite crystals were known to exist. Before 2005 there were fewer than 25 known crystals found, though more material has been unearthed recently in Myanmar.
In 2011 there was a very fine painite on sale for about $1800.00 per carat. Painite is pink to red to brown in color, very strongly pleochroic (showing different hues from different angles) and it fluoresces a lovely green under short wave UV.
9. JeremeyevitePronounced ye-REM-ay-ev-ite, this is a colorless, sky blue or pale yellow stone, the highest quality of which comes from Namibia. In nature it occurs in small obelisk-shaped crystals and has in the past been mistaken for aquamarine. It was named after Russian mineralogist Pavel Jeremejev who discovered the mineral in 1883. As of early 2005, a clean, 2.93-carat faceted gem was selling on the Internet for $2000.00 per carat.
8. Black OpalThe rarest type of Opal, the national gemstone of Australia, Black Opal is also the most valuable gem of its kind. Almost all available Black Opal comes from the Lightning Ridge mine in New South Wales. Australia is the classical Opal country and today is the worldwide most important supplier of Fine Opals. Almost 95 per cent of all Opals come from Australian mines. The remaining five per cent are mined in Mexico, and in Brazil’s north, also in the US states of Idaho and Nevada, but recently the stones have also been found in Ethiopia and in the West African country of Mali.
The brilliant play of color, or "fire," in these dark gems, along with their relative scarcity, causes them to be worth over $2300 per carat.
7. Red Beryl EmeraldRed beryl is found primarily in the Thomas Range and the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah, and has also been reportedly found in a location in Mexico (possibly near San Luis Potosi one of the very few places beryl is also found on rhyolite). Where it is found in Utah it occurs on rhyolite, where it crystallized under low pressure and high temperature, along fractures or cavities and porous areas of volcanic rhyolitic magma. Very few cut specimens exist.
Red Beryl has been described as 1,000 times more valuable than gold: cut stones regularly sell for more than $2,000 per carat - and as much as $10,000 per carat.
Taaffeite (pronounced "tar-fite") is named for Australian gemologist Richard Taaffe, who discovered a cut and polished specimen of the stone in 1945. It is the only gemstone to have been initially identified from a faceted stone. Most pieces of the gem, prior to Taaffe, had been misidentified as spinel. Only a handful of these precious stones have ever been found, making them a true collector's gem.
Found in range of hues ranging from nearly colorless to lavender, mauve and violet, Taaffeite occurs in Sri Lanka and Tanzania. Other sources may be discovered, but until then, Taaffeite remains one of the rarest and most valuable gems in the world.
Composition: Magnesium, Beryllium, Aluminum, Oxygen | Market Value: $1500-$2500 per carat.
To be continued.
