10. Jeremejevite - ~$2,000 per carat
This very rare gemstone of the Borate Class was first discovered in
1883 on Mt. Soktui in Siberia by Russian mineralogist Pavel Jeremejev,
after whom it was named. The best quality stones are found in the
Erongo Region in Namibia but other deposits have also been found in
Pantahole Mine near Momeik, Myanmar (Burma) and a deposit near the
Tadjik town of Chorugh (Khorog). Jeremejevite can be colourless,
yellowish and light blue to slightly purplish blue.
9. Black Opal - ~$2,355 per carat
Next time you go Down Under, be sure to check out their opal.
Australia produces 97% of all the world’s opal, with the remaining 3%
found in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil,
Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ethiopia and, as announced by NASA in
2008, on planet Mars. However, almost all black opal is found in the
Australian town of Lightning Ridge in New South Wales. Trace elements
carbon and iron oxide give black opal its super dark body tone, allowing
for the rainbow of colors to radiate much brighter than opals of
lighter or milky body tones. This vibrant “play of color” and the
stone’s rareness give reason for black opals’ high value.
8. Red Beryl - ~$10,000 per carat
Just like a ruby is really a red sapphire, the red beryl is also
known as a “red emerald”. This incredibly rare gem, also referred to as
“bixbite,” has only been found in a handful places in the US: Wah Wah
Mountains, Utah; Paramount Canyon and Round Mountain, New Mexico; and
Thomas Range, Utah. With colors ranging from rose pink to deep red,
very few specimens that are found are large enough or of decent quality
to be used in jewelry.
7. Musgravite - ~$35,000 per carat
Another rare wonder from Down Under, Musgravite derives its name from
the Musgrave Range in South Australia, where it was first discovered in
1967. Limited qualities have been found in Greenland, Madagascar,
Antarctica, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania, but only eight specimens are known
to be of facet grade quality as of 2005. Its colors range from light
olive green, grey, mauve, grey purple and scores an 8 on the Mohs scale,
making it one of the hardest stones on earth.
6. Grandidierite - ~$50,000
As is the case with all obscure and extremely rare
stones, grandidierite was named in honor of its discoverer, French
naturalist and explorer Alfred Grandidier. Mostly found in Madagascar,
this bluish green stone is trichroic, transmitting blue, green and white
light. The largest clean faceted specimen weighs a miniscule 0.29
carats and is the only one known to date. How incredibly rare!
5. Painite - $50,000 to $60,000 per carat
Once thought to be the world’s rarest gem, Painite still remains
scarce but not as much so. Prior to finding a significant deposit in
the Mogok area of Burma in 2001 (which also produced a 55 carat stone),
there were only three known specimens of Painite. The rare borate
mineral, found only in northern Myanmar, ranges in color from red to
brownish to orange-red and scores an 8 on the Mohs scale.
4. Blue Garnet - ~$1.5 million per carat
Found in almost every color of the rainbow including red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, pink and colorless, the blue
garnet remains the most rare and most fascinating. It was discovered
only recently in the 1990s in Bekily, Madagascar and other deposits have
been found in the US, Russia and Turkey. What makes the blue garnet
that much more beautiful is its color changing property, which is due to
high amounts of the metal vanadium. In daylight, the gem is a soft
blue-green but changes to a vivid purple under incandescent light. The
most expensive blue garnet, at 4.2 carats, sold for $6.8 million in
2003.
3. Serendibite – $1.8 to $2 million per carat
For almost 100 years, only three known faceted specimens of
serendibite existed and those were all from the first ever discovery of
the gem at Gangapitiya, near Ambakotte, Sri Lanka in 1902. Then, in
2005 at the gemstone-rich Mogok region of Myanmar, additional deposits
of the supremely rare mineral were discovered. The cyan colored stone,
whose name comes from the old Arabic name, “Serendib,” for Sri Lanka
(Ceylon), can thank the unusual combination of calcium, magnesium,
aluminum, silicon, boron and oxygen for its extreme rareness.
2. Red Diamonds - ~$2 million per carat
Though all colored diamonds are incredibly rare, none are more so
than the red diamond. Less than 20 exist today and most weigh less than
half a carat, however there are three that weigh over 5 carats with the
biggest being the Moussaieff Red (5.11 carats). Notably, the Argyle
Mine in Australia produces a small number of red diamonds each year. In
1987, the Hancock Red (0.95 carats), the first high quality red diamond
at auction, sold for $926,000 per carat. Twenty years later that
record would fall when a rare 2.26 carat purplish-red diamond sold for
$2.6 million, or about $1.15 million a carat, at Christie’s in Geneva.
1. Jadeite – $3 million + per carat
Winning the title of rarest precious stone is jadeite. While not to
be confused with jade, a term used to refer to both jadeite and
nephrite, only jadeite retains value as a rare gem. With the best gem
quality jadeite found in Myanmar (Upper Burma), other lesser quality
sources include Guatemala, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan and California.
Jadeite’s value is judged by the combination of the intensity of green
color and high degree of transparency. At Christie’s in 1997, a jadeite
necklace called the “Doubly Fortunate” set the highest price for a
piece of jadeite jewelry sold at auction, selling for $9.3 million.
