The Most Valuable Gemstones You Never Knew Existed

You might be unaware of some of the world’s most valuable gemstones whether it is because you have never heard its name before because it is so rare and it is not commonly purchased. Another good possibility is it is a commonly known stone with a particular color such as the White Diamond but the gemstone’s rare counterpart is found in a different color such as a Red Diamond. Some of these most valuable gemstones were not well known until they were recently discovered during the last century.

These are just a couple of gemstones that you should become well aware of soon enough not only for their rarity but beauty as well:

• Red Diamond
• Black Opal
• Jeremejevite
• Blue Garnet
• Benitoite

 

Red Diamond

As a rule of thumb for red diamonds, this intense pink gemstone is usually priced at about twenty to fifty times higher than the more popular white diamond. Prices for this particular diamond because of its unique shade can be as high as around $1 million per carat because of its rare color and the fact that as few as 100 individual gemstones have been found in the world so far. One Australian jewelry retailer, Rio Tinto, hosts an Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender event that sells red diamond carats for total of around $3.2 million!

Black Opal

Out of all of the different colors and patterns found in opals, the rarest is considered the Black Opal from Australia. The price of a rare Black Opal can be around $20,000 per carat but of course it depends on a lot of different factors and because each opal is unique, the prices are taken into close consideration because of the following characteristics:

• Brilliance or luster
• Color Background or the Body Tone
• Play of Color or Spectral Range
• Patterns

The more clear and distinct the luster of the opal gemstone, the higher price a jeweler will put on the gemstone. Any opal that appears to have a type of film over it will not be as highly valued. The background color of a black opal does not necessarily have to exactly be pitch black. Any range from dark grey to dark blue is acceptable. On the opposite side of the spectrum, light opals such as white opals are common in comparison to black and hold very little value at all.

Just as the background color of a black opal should be intense and clear, the gemstone should have a spectral range of other colors that make up the opal’s unique pattern of blues, greens, yellows, oranges, and reds. Apparently, flashes of blues and greens are more common in opals so if an opal has more red and purple, it will have much more value.

 

Jeremejevite

Jeremejevite is a rare gemstone that is extremely expensive, however not quite as expensive as a black opal or red diamond can be. However, it is still rare to come across it often in a gemstone trade. Sold around $1,500 per carat, Jeremejevite was discovered by a Russian mineralogist and crystallographer, Pavel Vladimirovich Eremeev, in 1883 on Mt. Soktui in the Adun-Chilon Mountains in Siberia, Russia. Because of the similarities of color such as shades of pale blue, this gemstone can be often confused with aquamarine. There are several different color varieties of Jeremejevite besides blue including pale yellow and can even be colorless.

What makes a Jeremejevite very rare are the hollow tubes of inclusions from iron staining and the size of the gemstone. Large Jeremejevites can be found in Madagascar and this size is very rare. Jeremejevite can also be found in Germany but there are only a handful of other mining locations. The best Jeremejevite gemstones come from the Erongo Region in Namibia where they were discovered during the 1970s.

Jeremejevites are excellent for jewelry because they can be easily cut, polished, and have little reaction to warm temperatures. A gemstone or jewelry owner should be careful when handling a Jeremejevite because it is difficult to replace it if it is damaged even during a regular cleaning.

 

Blue Garnet

Despite its name and the fact that it is blue in color, a Blue Garnet tends to be more grey or green-blue instead of an exact shade of the color. Like the Jeremejevite, it sells for around $1,500 per carat and can also be found in Madagascar. The Blue Garnet was discovered there in the late 1990s in Bekily, Madagascar to be exact. Other locations include:

• Turkey
• Tanzania
• United States
• Russia
• Kenya

Other garnets whether they are blue or not, have a lot of significance. The Red Garnet in particular has been considered the modern birthstone for the month of January for many years and has a lot of traditional significance for different cultures including different folklore and legends about the gemstone’s properties.

 

Benitoite

This rare gemstone, Benitoite, costs a little more than a Blue Garnet and Jeremejevite but not nearly as much as a Black Opal and Red Diamond at about $3,000 to $4,000 per carat. This sky blue stone of the right gemstone quality can only be found in one location and one mine in California near the San Benito River of the San Benito County where it was located in 1907. Because the best quality of Benitoite can only found in California, it has been the official gemstone of the state since 1985. What makes, Benitoite so unique is its crystal form with five-six points that resemble a Star of David.

You might not be able to purchase these most valuable gemstones quite yet but we certainly can admire them for their natural beauty. Which of these five rare gemstones is your favorite?