What Makes A Gemstone So Expensive?
Gemstones are cut from mineral crystals and polished in different shapes and sizes and mostly used for jewelry and decoration. Increase in the demand of gemstones does not increase the production. When finding the value of the gemstones, there are some things to focus on according to gemologists:
1. Durability
2. Rarity
3. Beauty
What is the most expensive gemstone in the world?
In 2018, it is a Blue Diamond which costs nearly $4 million/carat, beating the previous holder, a Pink Star Diamond ($1.2 million/carat). Now, without further delay, let's get into the top 10 most expensive gemstones in 2018.
10. Taaffeite - $2500/carat
Taaffeite(BeMgAl4O8) is a mineral discovered by gemologist Richard Taffe in 1945 in a jewelry shop in Dublin, Ireland. It is considered to be a million times rarer than a diamond. This extremely rare gemstone is mostly found in Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
Demantoid is a green gemstone that has adamantine luster.this gemstone is a variety of Andradite, a member of Garnet group of minerals. Andradite is a Ca & Fe-rich garnet. It was identified as a variety of Andradite by a russian mineralogist during the 19th century. demantoid is mainly found in Russia & Namibia.
Colored diamonds are the most expensive gemstones in the world. Not only because they are rare, but they are stunningly beautiful and are the hardest substance on earth. Blue diamonds are billions of years old, these diamonds comprise less than 0.02% of the world's mined diamonds. This is why they're super expensive. Boron is the element what makes blue diamond "blue".
Two of the most beautiful and expensive diamonds are Oppenheimer Blue and Pink Star. The Oppenheimer Blue diamond is the biggest Vivid Blue diamond to appear in an auction. It was sold at the price of $57.5 million for weighing 14.62 carats, making its worth $3.93 million per carat. Meanwhile, the Pink Star diamond was sold at a massive $71.2 million for 59.6 carats ($1.2 million per carat), which makes it the most expensive gemstone ever sold based on its total price.
9. Demantoid - $3300/carat
Unpolished
Polished
8. Black Opal - $3500/carat
Opal is a mineraloid because of its amorphous character. Black opals are considered rarest and most popular compared to other variety of opals. Black color with haphazard bright coloring makes it a beauty beast. Majority of the supply around the world come from South Australia.
7. Benitoite - $3800/carat
Unpolished
Benitoite is a rare blue colored barium titanium silicate mineral. The most distinct characteristic of Benitoite is it fluoresces bright blue to bluish white color under ultraviolet light. It was named Benitoite by George D. Louderback after San Benito Country where it was discovered. It is mainly found in San Benito Country (California), Japan and Arkansas.
Benitoite under UV rays
6. Padparadscha Sapphire - $8000/carat
Sapphires can be found in a wide variety of colors. Some colors are common, some are rare and some are hardly seen. Padparadscha sapphire is one of the most rare and the most beautiful sapphire. Padparadscha is a Sinhalese word which means "aquatic lotus blossom". The color of this sapphire ranges from salmon color to pinkish orange hue. Padparadscha sapphire mainly come from Sri Lanka, but they are also found in Tanzania and Madagascar.
5. Red Beryl - $10000/carat
Unpolished
Beryl is a beryllium aluminium silicate. Red beryl is an extremely rare variety of beryl which gets its red color from trace amount of manganese. It was originally named Bixbite by Alfred Eppler in honor of Maynard Bixby who was a miner and mineral dealer of Salt Lake city of Utah. Red Beryl is presently found in only thre locations in the world: the Thomas range and Wah Wah mountains in West Central Utah and Black range in New Mexico.
4. Alexandrite - $12000/carat
Alexandrite is a variety of Chrysobryl, a beryllium aluminate. Alexandrites have two main value factors. First one is the closer the colors to pure red and green, the higher the value. Second one is the more distinct color change,the higher the value. That is why the most valuable gems would have a 100% color shift from pure green to pure red. Alexandrite was discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in the year of 1830. In 1834, Count Lev Alexseevich Perovski named the stone "Alexandrite" in the honor of the then-future Czar of Russia, Alexander II.
3. Jadeite - $20000/carat
Jadeite is a sodium-aluminium silicate, may contain a number of impurities (often calcium) that may give it a variety of colors: white, emerald green, apple green, red, brown and even blue. Among these varieties, its association with the emerald green color of "Imperial Jade" continues to be highly valued. The majority of the supply around the world come from Myanmar, Japan, Guetamala and Kazakhstan.
2. Musgravite - $35000/carat
Musgravite, an extremely rare gemstone in the taaffeite family. Musgravite is very much closely related to taaffeite and the separation between these two is based on magnesium content. The only sure way to determine one from the other is Raman Spectroscopy.
Musgravite is originally named after the Musgrave Ranges of Southern Australia. Then it was renamed by IMA (International Mineralogical Association) and now its official name is Magnesiotaaffeite-6N'3S. It is mainly found in Musgrave Ranges of Southern Australia, but in Antarctica, Greenland and Madagascar, it is found in limited quantities.
1. Blue Diamond - $3.93 Million/carat
Colored diamonds are the most expensive gemstones in the world. Not only because they are rare, but they are stunningly beautiful and are the hardest substance on earth. Blue diamonds are billions of years old, these diamonds comprise less than 0.02% of the world's mined diamonds. This is why they're super expensive. Boron is the element what makes blue diamond "blue".
Two of the most beautiful and expensive diamonds are Oppenheimer Blue and Pink Star. The Oppenheimer Blue diamond is the biggest Vivid Blue diamond to appear in an auction. It was sold at the price of $57.5 million for weighing 14.62 carats, making its worth $3.93 million per carat. Meanwhile, the Pink Star diamond was sold at a massive $71.2 million for 59.6 carats ($1.2 million per carat), which makes it the most expensive gemstone ever sold based on its total price.
Oppenheimer Blue Diamond
Pink Star Diamond
