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Precious and semi-precious gemstones are two categories many of us have known till today, but the most expensive gemstones form a category of their own. Besides the three precious gems (blue sapphire, ruby, and emerald ), others made the list too.
If you’re curious about what makes a gemstone worth millions, this blog breaks down the factors behind extreme pricing. It helps you understand luxury gemstones beyond common diamonds and rubies. Top 15 Most Expensive Gemstones in Order
When you call a gemstone expensive, you mean:
These expensive gemstones are worth investing in, as they offer good returns in the future. Let's have a look at these one by one.
When something is sold for as whopping as $3.93 million per carat, it’s sure shot to top the list of the most expensive gemstones in the world. Blue diamond rules the list of most valuable gemstones and is the rarest of all. The blue color in diamonds is because of the traces of the Boron element. Blue diamonds were first discovered in India and considered as the elemental symbol of royalty. Later, prestigious personalities around the world embraced blue diamonds like nothing else.
The most expensive gem blue diamond - Oppenheimer Blue diamond - was sold at Christie's auction house for a staggering $57.5 million in 2016. It weighs around 14.62 carats and is mounted in the highest quality of Platinum.
Another diamond in our coveted and elusive list of the most valuable gemstones in the world. Many experts tried to decipher the reason behind the pink color in diamonds but none came to a mutual conclusion. However, the most relevant theory is that it’s because of the arbitrary molecular structure broken down by the pressure during formation.
The less valuable variants of pink diamonds also have orange, purple, and brown hues. In 2017, at Sotheby’s auction, the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction was the ‘Pink Star Diamond’ for a jaw-dropping price of $71.2 million. It weighed around massive 59.6 carats.
Red diamond is by leaps and bounds one of the most beautiful gemstones in existence as well as the third most expensive gemstone in our list. There are only countable mines of red diamonds in the world and more than 99% of red diamonds weigh less than one carat. According to an estimate, only a handful of red diamonds are mined every year and the red color in diamonds is still an unsolvable mystery.
The costliest gemstone red diamond ever found was Moussaieff Red Diamond weighing around 5.11 carats and with a valuation of sky-rocketing $20 million.
When compared to diamonds, emeralds are quite affordable. However, emeralds with par-excellent quality and rare lush green color can exceed some of the most precious diamonds in terms of value. Emerald stone have been revered as well as one of the most desired possessions for kings and queens across the world for centuries. Some of the most valuable emeralds ever existed come from the mines of Colombia, Zambia, and Brazil.
The most expensive emerald in the world is the Rockefeller emerald weighing 18 carats and sold at a gargantuan price of $5.51 million in 2017.
Read More:- Emerald- The Best Gemstone For Every Time
Often referred to as one of the top-notch choices for gemstone collectors, Jadeite deserves every bit to be on our list of the most expensive gemstones for umpteen reasons. Firstly, Jadeite is the rarest variety of Jade. Secondly, it is extensively used to carve mesmerizing statues, decorative stuff, and different types of weapons. Civilizations like Mayans and Aztecs valued jadeite more than gold and utilized it to make incisive weapons and stunning ornaments.
The Hutton Mdivani necklace is the most expensive piece of Jadeite jewelry ever sold in a 2017 auction at a whopping price of $27.44 million. This necklace encloses around 27 Jadeite stones in a single thread.
Painite made it top 10 in our exclusive list of most valuable gemstones in the world solely because of one fact; only three Painite stones were known till 2001. Not many people know that Painite is rare of the rarest form of borate and the price per carat of this splendid gemstone can go as high as $60000 per carat.
Painite is named after a scientist who discovered this mineral in 1957. Because of the lush red hues of Painite, it was mistaken to be Ruby stone initially. Myanmar is the only known source of supreme quality Painite.
Serendibite is one of the rarest and the most beautiful gemstones in the world with Sri Lanka being the only known source. It was first discovered in the remotest area of Sri Lanka and comes in dark blue-green to vivid green-blue hue. It is an outrageously rare form of Silica mineral with the Boron element responsible for shimmering color variations.
The Ophir collection, a U.S based collection firm owns the most expensive Serendibite stone which is worth $2.5 million and weighs a massive 140.76 carats.
If we go by the official data, there are only 50 known Taaffeite gemstones in existence which make them even rarer than diamonds and emeralds. Taaffeite is named after a prominent Irish gemologist, Count Richard Taaffe, who discovered it in the year 1945. Due to the lush red color with strong purple hues, Taaffeite is often confused with ruby stone. It was later marked as a spinel stone.
As per the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest known Taaffeite gemstone weighs 5.36 carats and is owned by Miho Ozawa of Japan.
Alexandrite stone is more expensive than diamond. The color changing property from emerald green to ruby makes this gemstone a rare one. Alexandrite is a costliest gemstone compared to diamond if it is of high carat weight.
Saur Alexandrite is known to be the largest Alexandrite stone in the world with a humongous uncut weight of 122,400 carats and its price is immeasurable. Another expensive Alexandrite was sold at Christie’s auction in 2014 for a whopping price of $1.4 million.
Such is the beauty and charm of Paraiba tourmaline, it can entrance you with just a glance. Paraiba tourmalines are renowned for their mesmerizing blue color hues and are one of the most expensive gemstones in the world. The word Paraiba comes from the Paraiba region in Brazil where Paraiba tourmalines were first discovered in 1989.
Paraibas with deep and dark blue hues are the most valued ones and quite daunting to find. The intriguing fact about Paraiba tourmalines is their price keeps rising with each passing year.
Paraiba tourmaline is an expensive stone. The most valuable ones are mounted in a pair of earrings with the stone weighing 7.46 carats in one earring and 6.81 carats in another earring. They were sold for a quarter million at Christie’s auction in 2018.
Read More:- Paraiba Tourmaline - Everything You Wanted to Know
Discovered in 1967, Musgravite stone is one of the most beautiful as well as rarest gemstones in the world with a staggering valuation. It was first found in the Musgraves ranges in South Australia, hence, it got its name from there. Apart from Australia, Musgravite poky deposits were also found in Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Greenland, and Antarctica.
Musgravite is quite rare in existence and one of the most expensive Musgravite stones was sold at Gem Rock Auctions at a jaw-dropping price of $800,000 and it weighed around 16 carats.
In the list of expensive stones, Demantoid garnet takes a prestigious place. This utterly rare and valuable gemstone was first discovered in the remotest regions of Ural Mountain in Russia in 1868 and since then this region has produced some of the rarest garnets in the world.
What distinguishes demantoid garnet from the rest of the most expensive gemstones on our list is its unprecedented and unbeatable luster. The brilliance of the demantoid garnet is miles ahead of the most glittering diamonds. The supply of this garnet variant is quite limited and not a single demantoid garnet stone over 10-carat weight has been found apart from an anomaly which we are going to state below.
The largest known as well as one of the most exorbitant demantoid garnets is 11.24 carats in weight and was found in Russia.
The alluring appearance of Grandidierite is so spell-binding that you will go weak on the knees for this super rare gemstone. When viewed from varied angles, Grandidierite exhibits different hues of blue and green colors and the most valued Grandidierite stones are quite transparent in appearance.
As per the meticulous observation by numerous renowned gemologists, only one in 1000 Grandidierite stones qualify as gem quality. It requires years of expertise to cut Grandidierite stones perfectly as this stone is quite daunting to cut and often carved into cabochons to avoid major loss.
The biggest Grandidierite stone in the world has a mammoth value of $15.28 million and weighs around gargantuan 764 carats. It is currently owned by the Medici collection.
Nothing can match the timeless beauty and grace of Padparadscha sapphires as they are the rarest types of sapphires with enormous market value. The striking and endearing Salmon pink color of Padparadscha is what separates them from the rest of the sapphires. Sri Lanka is the prime source of the highest quality Padparadscha sapphires but they are also found in minimal quantities in Tanzania and Madagascar.
In 2017, the world’s most valuable stone, Padparadscha sapphire was sold at a whopping price of $2.5 million USD at a Christie’s house auction. It weighs around 28.04 carats and is set well in a gold ring.
Last but not the least, ruby entered into our exclusive list of the most expensive gemstones in the world. Though gem-quality rubies are available at $5000 to $10000 USD per carat in the market, the rarest ruby price can go as much as $1 million per carat in value.
Read More: Which Type of Ruby is Best for Astrological Use
The world’s most expensive ruby was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2015 at a towering price of $30.42 million and weighed around 25.59 carats.
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