What comes to your mind when you hear the term gems?
Aren’t your thoughts filled with tantalizing colors of red, green, blue, and green? We all associate precious gems with wealth, and kingliness.
The precious stones can be expensive due to reasons such as their rarity in nature, and the hardness to uncover them. The prices are on the rise as it gets more and more scarce with the passing years.
All of us have wanted at least once to suit to get ready wearing the majestic gemstones.
Here in this article, we will be evaluating the top 10 most valuable gemstones In The World available in the market, ‘what are they used for?’, ‘what are their mind-blowing prices?’, its specifications, and ‘what makes it so rare?’
Top 10 Most Valuable Gemstones
10. Alexandrite – 15,000 US dollars per carat
10. Diamond – 15,000 US dollars per carat
9. Grandidierite – 20,000 US dollars per carat
8.Taaffeite – 35,000 US Dollars Per Carat
7. Musgravite – 35,000 US Dollars Per Carat
6. Painite – 50,000 US dollars per carat
5. Emerald – 100,000 US dollars per carat
4. Red Diamond – 1 million US dollars per carat
3. Pink Diamond – 1.2 million US dollars per carat
2. Jadeite – 3 million US dollars per carat
1 . Blue Diamond – 3.93 million US dollars per carat
The other most valuable gemstones are Benitoite which costs 4,000 US dollars per carat, Paraiba Tourmaline which costs 5,000 US dollars per carat, Black Opal which costs 10,000 US dollars per carat and Demantoid Garnet costing the same, 10,000 US dollars. Another one of the most valuable gemstones available in the market in 2023 is Red Beryl at 10,000 US dollars.
Let’s dive into the details of the most valuable gemstones on the market. Meanwhile, in your fantasy, maybe you can be a king or queen who possesses all of these.
10. Alexandrite – 15,000 US Dollars Per Carat
We can start by talking about Alexandrite, which is one of the most valuable gemstones available on the market.
We know that the gemstones would be known for one specific color but will be available in other colors as well. Various kinds of diamonds are found in various colors. Do you know the colors that Alexandrite is found in?
In the case of Alexandrite, it is found in more than one hue; but all the hues are found in the same stone. Is that even possible? Well, it is possible for Alexandrite with its ability to change colors.
It shows different colors when exposed at different times of the day. When exposed to the day sun, it is blue-green in color. The same stone turns purple with red undertones under the evening sun. That’s why it is known as emerald by day, ruby by night.
This is due to a phenomenon known as metamerism. The phenomenon causes the crystal to change color according to the changes in the illumination of light that are exposed to it. This is another name known as the Alexandrite effect.
Clarity differences can happen in the stone according to its quality. This feature is known as the cat’s eye, too. This is when there is inclusion, a needle-like one, that happens in high-quality Alexandrites.
A rare variety of Alexandrite is the Titanium bearing synthetic Alexandrite. Alexandrites do not commonly occur in more than three carats. It was primarily uncovered in a Russian mine years back in 1833. It was from the Ural mountains.
The most talked about Alexandrites from all over the world are the Whitney Alexandrite, the Sauer Alexandrite, and the Smithsonian’s Alexandrite. The last one is the largest faceted Alexandrite and weighs around 65.7 carats.
Currently, there are Alexandrites that have been mined from Tanzania, India, and Sri Lanka.
Priced the same as Alexandrite is Diamond.
10. Diamond – 15,000 US dollars per carat
When you are asked to name the top 5 most valuable gemstones in the world, all precious stones would make it to the list. Diamonds are the stars of wedding rings and promise rings.
Diamonds are seen in colors such as white, colorless, nearly colorless, and in the faintest hue of yellow. Natural diamonds were unearthed for the first time from Indian mines that date back to the 4th century.
Diamonds are the hardest substance on the face of the earth until this very date. It is the only one in the group of precious stones that is solely made up of one element. It is formed approximately 100 miles below the surface of the earth and reaches the surface by volcanic activities.
Everyone would have a different answer. Four out of five stones will be separate from each other for the people. But isn’t it damn sure that all of the lists would contain diamonds?
A rare occurrence in this case of the gemstone known as Double Diamonds. That is, on very usual occasions a second cavity is formed inside one diamond, and inside the second cavity another diamond forms.
Diamonds have always been on the list of the most valuable gemstones. In the World
The most famous diamonds are the Koh-I-Noor diamond, the Cullinan I Diamond, the Sancy Diamond, the Cullinan IV Diamond, the Nasak Diamond, and the Shah Diamond.
Koh-I-Noor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, was discovered in India, and was part of multiple empires. During the colonization, it was taken to London and currently is a part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.
9. Grandidierite – 20, 000 US Dollars Per Carat
Grandidierite was found in 1902 in southern Madagascar, on the cliffs of Andrahomana.
Being one of the most valuable gemstones available in the market, it is named Grandidierite as a tribute to Alfred Grandidier, a naturalist and explorer from France. The other places where the gemstone is found are Italy, Algeria, Norway, Canada, Malawi, Suriname, India, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, the United States of America, and Antarctica.
In spite of its preciousness, it does not have a demand in the jewelry industry. However, it is suitable for the purpose given its scratch resistance and durability. It consists of components of silicate, magnesium, and aluminum borosilicate. It is due to the very low supply of it. Therefore, it is also called the collector’s stone.
The largest cut Grandidierite is 4.54 carats, while most of it weighs just above 2 carats. Grandidierite is found in colors such as pale turquoise, medium green, and medium blueish green.
8. Taaffeite – 35,000 US Dollars Per Carat
Taaffeite is precious as it is one of the most valuable gemstones available in the market.
The gemstone is named Taaffeite as an ode to Richard Taaffe, the man who discovered it. It was found in Dublin, Ireland, in 1945 in a jeweler’s shop. It consists of Beryllium, Aluminum, and Magnesium.
Taffeitte is the first ever mineral that has magnesium and beryllium as its unavoidable components. Taaffeite is seen in colors such as gray, violet, pale green, medium green, pink, and pink with purple undertones and also as colorless.
It is beloved to have healing effects and to invite vision, energy, health, and love. It is used only in the design of fine jewelry due to its scarcity.
Taaffeite is found in carbonate rocks, spinel, tourmaline, splash, fluorite, and in alluvial deposits. The countries that can be credited with its origins are China, Russia, and Myanmar.
7. Musgravite – 35,000 US Dollars Per Carat
The gemstones in the eighth and seventh positions are of the same price; that is 35,000 US dollars per carat.
Musgravite is a relatively new gemstone like Grandidierite. The world came across it for the first time in 1967 when it was uncovered in Australia from the Musgrave region. That’s where the name of the gemstone derives from.
Musgravite is a kind of Taaffeite. The chemical elements of Musgravite are Magnesium, Iron, and Zinc.
There are only 8 Musgravites found so far. The other stones were found in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Greenland, Tanzania, and Antarctica.
Musgravite symbolizes joy.
The Musgravites that have been found to date are the purplish gray Musgravite, the Ophir Musgravite, the Ophir Red Musgravite, and the Ophir Grand Musgravite.
The purplish gray Musgravite was found in Sri Lanka and weighs 16 carats. It was put on auction in 2021 and was sold for 800,000 US dollars.
The Ophir Musgravite weighs 22.64 carats. On its unearthing, it was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest cut Musgravite stone. It no longer has the position.
The Ophir Red Musgravite is the largest cut red Musgravite and the third largest cut musgravite ever. It weighs 21.07 carats.
The largest cut Musgravite is the Ophir Grand Musgravite which weighs 214 carats. On its discovery, it was listed as a Taaffeite gemstone.
It is seen in hues of green from medium green to grayish green.
6. Painite – 50,000 US Dollars Per Carat
Painite is one of the rarest gemstones to be ever unearthed. It was first found in 1945 in Myanmar by Arthur C.D. Pain. It was first thought of as ruby. The transparent gemstone was named after its discoverer.
The first discovered Painite weighs 8.5 carats and the second discovered weighs 10.59 carats. Both are now housed in the Natural History Museum in London.
From 1945 to 2001, only three Painites were found. After that, a few more were found.
Painites are found in Myanmar only. It is mostly found in deep red color. Other colors it is found in are brownish red-orange and garnet-like hues.
In the few that have been found, facetable crystals are only two or three.It is constituted of minerals such as Boron, Calcium, Aluminum, Oxygen, and Zirconium.
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5. Emerald – 100,000 US dollars per carat
Emeralds have been a part of human culture and civilization as far as 1,500 BCE. Reportedly, Egyptian Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra idolized the Emerald and wore it and adorned her place with it.
One of the most valuable gemstones in the world, classy-looking Emeralds are also a birthstone. The color variants of the precious stone are bluish-green, medium green, and deep green.
Emerald is made up of the mineral Beryl. The green color is attributed to it when there is a slight presence of vanadium or chromium. The Emerald in blueish green is formed when there are trace amounts of iron. The color can also be yellowish-green depending on its state of oxidation.
Gachalá Emerald is one of the largest gem emeralds in the world and weighs 858 carats. It was found in a Colombian mine and is currently preserved at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Other notable emeralds include the Chipembele Emerald, the Bahia Emerald, the Carolina Emerald, the Chalk Emerald, the Duke of Devonshire Emerald, and the Emerald of Saint Louis. The top countries in Emerald production are Brazil, Zambia, Colombia, and Zimbabwe. Other countries are Canada, Madagascar, Russia, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan.
A thing that happens with Emeralds is that most of them have very minor imperfections in them. It is difficult to find a flawless emerald. Therefore, what happens at the auction of a flawless emerald does not have to be told at all. Records are broken and millions are thrown at such occasions that happen once in a blue moon.
Emeralds can be seen, intertwined with royal bloodlines, as a symbol of eloquence, grace, and dignity. It is known as the Jewel of Kings. The rarest of all Emeralds is the Trapiche Emerald found with six radial pattern points and ray-like spokes made of dark impurities.
4. Red Diamond – 1 million US dollars per carat
Red is seductive when used in jewelry and clothes. Well, after witnessing the beauty of a Red Diamond, one would have to redefine the word seductive.
The gemstone gets the rarest red color during its formation. It is not usually found on earth. Red diamonds are formed under extreme pressure and heat that changes.
Only 30 red diamonds have been found so far. Most of them weigh less than half of a carat. The red diamonds have been unearthed from mines in Africa, Australia, and Brazil.
The red diamond only has Carbon structures in it. It is formed by the intense version of a process known as Crystal Lattice Distortion. In this, after the formation of the stone, extreme heat and pressure act on it from every direction.
The most popular Red diamonds are the Hancock Red Diamond, the Moussaieff Red Diamond, the Supreme Purple Star, and the Rob Red Red Diamond. If you wear a red diamond, let it be a necklace, an earring, a tiara, a ring, or a brooch, or just hold it in your hands, then you are no less than royalty.
Red diamonds can be found in various shades of red such as vibrant red, reddish-orange, and red with purple. The one with the faintest red hue is pale pinkish red and the one with the brightest red is the purple-ish red Diamond.
3. Pink Diamond – 1.2 million US dollars per carat
Diamonds do have a key place when it comes to value. It could be found everywhere, in celebrations, in coronations, in royalty, in history, and in culture.
Nonetheless, the Pink Diamond can’t be seen everywhere easily. It is unusual to be discovered. They consist of less than 0.1 % of total diamonds all over the world.
The most wanted Pink Diamond is the Pink Star diamond.
Despite its ravishing beauty, Pink Diamond exists due to a deformation called Plastic Deformation. This is when the diamond particles under the ground level, are pressurized upwards to the surface, which causes major alteration in the structure and properties of the gem.
This results in the diamond absorbing light in a way different from the other ones in its family. The absorbed light ray is emitted contrastingly in a pink shade.
Pink diamonds are found in various hues of pink ranging from the faintest to the fancy deep. Other shades in between these are very light pink, light pink, fancy light pink, fancy pink, fancy intense pink, and fancy vivid pink.
The world came to know about the existence of such a diamond in 1990, but it was discovered in India, years ago. The most famous pink diamond is the Daria-i-Noor, which is the largest cut pink diamond in the world. It weighs 182 carats. Currently, it is part of the Central Crown under the control of the government of Iran.
Other pink diamonds that are a part of popular culture are the Noor-ul-Ain, the Graff Pink Diamond, the Martian Pink diamond, the Rose of Dubai pink diamond, and the Steinmetz Pink diamond.
Pink diamonds are mostly seen in the mines of India, Western Australia, Brazil, South Africa, and Canada. The rarity of the diamond can be expressed as only one in ten thousand diamonds can be pink.
2. Jadeite – 3 million US dollars Per Carat
Which one has the second position in the list of most valuable gemstones in the world?
It is Jadeite for 3 million US dollars. The gemstone Jadeite derives from the Jade family.
Jadeite has an enchanting green color that once you look at it, it would not be that easy to take your eyes away from it.
The rich green color Jadeite is known as imperial jade. It has been found in almost all hues of green. Jadeite is seen in other colors such as yellow, yellowish green, brown, yellowish brown, orange, red, mauve, violet, purple, gray, and black. Blue-colored Jadeite is the rarest Jadeite ever.
Jadeite is a harder variety of gemstones found as fine crystals, granules, and splintery fractures. Jadeites are mostly found in mines in China, Myanmar, Russia, European nations, New Zealand, and Canada. It plays a vital role in the culture and tradition of the People’s Republic of China. It is visualized as a symbol of royalty and is associated with immortality and the soul.
Jade has a finer crystalline structure, so the light rays penetrate the stone more easily and reflect and refract. The royal look of this gemstone is a result of the effect of translucency. When you look at Jadeite you will feel that it is a fancy stone filled with water or some similar kind of liquid inside it. Actually, the components of the stone are.
The most popular jewelry that is embedded with Jade stones is the one worn by Barbara Hutton at her 21st birthday party, which has 27 large stones in it. It goes by the name, the Hutton-Mdivani Necklace, and was sold at an auction as the most valuable Jadeite gemstone ever for 2 million US dollars in 1988.
1 . Blue Diamond – 3.93 million US Dollars Per Carat
Finally, here we are, at the end of our gemstone list. Throughout this article, how many times did you ask the question ‘which is the most expensive and valuable gemstone in the world?’, yourself?
One might have wondered on seeing the prices of the Pink Diamond and the Red Diamond whether there was a more expensive gemstone or not. Well, there is.
The most valuable gemstone in the world is the Blue Diamond. It is a natural diamond. One would have to spend 3.93 million US dollars for one carat of this legendary gem. The gem has its blue color due to the presence of Boron particles.
One of the reasons for its colossal price is that it was discovered naturally. It was unearthed from the soil of India and was later transported to London during the British colonial reign. In an 1839 display, it was showcased in London.
The earliest discovered Blue Diamond was discovered from Kollur Mine, in the Andhra Pradesh state of India, under the rule of the Golconda Kingdom in the 17th century. The diamond is now known as Hope Diamond. There is an existing myth that a diamond has a curse associated with it, that an ill fortune would befall whoever owns the gem.
Hope Diamond is a dark grayish-blue diamond of 45.52 carats. Currently, the Hope Diamond is at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., United States
Some of the other famous Blue Diamonds are the Baby Hope Diamond, the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, the Heart of Eternity, the Tereschenko Diamond, the Zoe Diamond, and the Blue Moon of Josephine Diamond.
Blue Diamonds are vastly seen in mines in India, South Africa, and some parts of Australia. Although the diamond is noted for its dark hue color, it is also found in colors such as saturated blue, pale blue, medium blue, blue with gray, and blue with violet.
Conclusion
The article about the most valuable gemstones in the world comes to a conclusion. Here is a quick recap of what we talked about so far.
The most valuable gemstone in the world is Blue Diamond at 3.93 million US dollars per carat. The second most valuable gemstone in the world is Jadeite at 3 million US dollars per carat, and the third most valuable gemstone in the world is Pink Diamond at 1.2 million US dollars per carat.
The other valuable diamonds in the world ranked at fourth, and fifth, positions are Red Diamond, and Emerald, at 1 million US dollars and 100,000 US dollars.
The gemstones Painite, Musgravite, Taaffeite, and Grandidierite are comparatively newly found ones. Painite costs 50,000 US dollars per carat. Musgravite and Taaffeite cost the same 35,000 US dollars per carat. While Grandidierite is at 20,000 US dollars per carat.
In the list of the top 10 most valuable gemstones in the world, Diamond and Alexandrite are the least expensive. Only on the list, they are so, on the actual market they are very pricey. Both are placed at 15,000 US dollars per carat.
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