1. JADEITE
There are minerals on Earth far more valuable and much rarer than the usual run of diamonds, sapphires etc., and many of them are truly breath-taking. Until recently, jadeite has been a mystery mineral, but primary sources of it have been found in Guatemala as well as several Californian sites where it also occurs. All Mexican jadeite is in artifacts from unknown sources. The record price for a single piece of jadeite jewelry was set at the November 1997 Christie’s Hong Kong sale: lot 1843, the “Doubly Fortunate” necklace of 27 approximately 0.5 mm jadeite beads, sold for US$9.3 million.
2. GRANDIDIERITE
This is a bluish-green mineral found primarily in Madagascar. The first and so far only clean faceted specimen was from Sri Lanka. The mineral is named after French explorer and natural historian Alfred Grandidier, who among other things unearthed bones from the extinct half-ton elephant bird in Ambolisatra, Madagascar. Another absolutely priceless gem.
3. TAAFFIETE
Taaffeite is one of the world’s rarest and most exclusive gemstone types. Named after Bohemian-Irish gemologist Edward Taaffe, who discovered the first one from a box of Sri Lankan spinels in 1945, taaffeite ranges in color form mauve to lavender to red. The stone displays a double refraction which is uncharacteristic of spinel. All the known faceted taaffeites currently in existence would fill only about half a cup.
4. PAINITE
Painite, once believed to be the rarest mineral on earth, was first found in Myanmar by British minerologist 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. It was widely considered to be the rarest of all gems, with only two faceted crystals in existence. The monetary value is incalculable.
5. RED DIAMOND
Natural red diamonds are so rare that most jewellers have never seen one, and will never own one. The world’s largest red diamond is known as the Red Shield, and weighs only 5.11 carats, compared with over 600 carats for the largest diamond of any kind. It would not get anywhere near the list of the world’s largest diamonds, yet it is famous for the fact that it is red, one of the rarest colours for diamonds.
6. JEREMEJEVITE
Jeremejevite is among the rarest of gem minerals. Some of the best crystals, water-clear and cornflower-blue, have come from a small ocean-side occurrence in Namibia discovered in 1973. The site was reworked for specimens in 1999, but yielded only colorless to pale yellow crystals; the first-found examples remain the best from the occurrence. A new locality for blue jeremejevite was discovered in the Erongo Mountains in 2001 and has produced some fine, lustrous crystal. The values of these stones are impossible to estimate.
7. BLUE GARNET
Garnets are found in many colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, pink and colorless. The rarest of these is the blue garnet, discovered in the late 1990s in Bekily, Madagascar. It is also found in parts of the United States, Russia and Turkey. It changes color from blue-green in the daylight to purple in incandescent light as a result of the relatively high amounts of vanadium it contains. The most expensive gem, a 4.2 carat beauty, sold in 2003 for $6.8 million. All of these exceptional stones are as rare as hen’s teeth and worth a fortune. Who would not like to own something like this?
