Formed in the earth's crust and mantle over millions of years, gemstones are true miracles of nature. And they are not called "precious" for nothing! As for some varieties, only a handful of specimens have been discovered, making them highly sought after. But which are the rarest of them all? Our gemstone experts will make a list for you. Here are ten of the world's rarest gemstones.
1. Grandiditic gemstone: Until recently, the blue-green minerals called grandidiereite were almost inaccessible. Although first discovered in 1902 by Alfred Lacroix, it is only more than a century later, in September 2016, that a new deposit of this extremely rare mineral was located in the south of Madagascar. It is located on the outskirts of the town of Tranomaro, near the place where the first specimens were found, in Andranomena. If it remains one of the rarest minerals in the world, this new deposit has made it possible to make more quality stones available.
2. Painite: was named the rarest precious gem on the planet by the 2005 Guinness Book of Records. Until then there were only just under 25 known specimens. It was discovered in the 1950s in Burma by the British gemmologist who gave it his name: Arthur C.D. Pain. It is a strongly pléchroïc stone, that is to say that it displays different shades according to the angle of observation, going from pink to brown. A real pleasure for the eyes.
8. MusgraviteIs: this grey-green mineral a taffeite or a musgravite? Both species are chemically and visually very similar and can only be distinguished by a process called Raman microspectroscopy. As of 2005, only eight examples of existing musgravite were known, although it is quite possible that many musgravites are still confused with taaffeites by their owners. Musgravite, discovered in 1967, takes its name from its native land: the Musgrave Mountains, in the south of Australia. However, it is only in 1993 that specimens large enough and pure enough to be carved were found.
4. Serendibite: This stone was discovered in 1902 in Sri Lanka by Dunil Palitha Gunasekera. The root of its name is "Serendib" which is the old name of Sri Lanka in Arabic. This mineralogical formation is the result of a very complex formula with calcium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, boron and oxygen which together give it its unique appearance. Cut stones are rare and generally small in size.
5. Jeremejevite: The next variety to make our list of the ten rarest gemstones is jeremevite. This colorless gem with sky blue or pale yellow highlights was first identified in 1883 in Siberia and is named after Russian mineralogist Pavel Jeremeyev. Since then, it is only in Namibia that crystals of sufficient quality have been discovered, albeit in very limited quantities. Because of the rarity of these crystals, Jeremeyevite is likely to remain a coveted collector's gemstone for a long time. The few existing specimens are incredibly valuable.
6.poudretteite: is particularly beautiful to look at with its natural pink color, its limpidity and vitreous luster. It comes from a place in the world rich in gemstones: a quarry in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, a small town in Quebec, where more than 60 varieties of gems have been extracted. This quarry is owned and operated by the Poudrette family, which gave its name to this beautiful variety. The first specimens of poudrettéite were extracted in the 1960s in the form of tiny crystals. They were not officially recognized as a new mineral species until 1987 and it was not until 2003 that their analysis was complete.
7.Benitoite: The presence of this very precious gem variety has been found in many places around the world, but the best quality gems have been mined mainly in San Benito, California. These spellbinding gems are sapphire-blue in color and can be of exceptional transparency and brilliance. One of their most surprising characteristics is revealed when exposed to ultraviolet rays: they reveal a surreal fluorescent blue-white color.
8. Red beryl: Although red beryl was first identified in 1904, it wasn't until 1958 that processable materials became available, thanks to the research of Lamar Hodges in southwestern Utah, USA. Red beryl, formerly known as "bixbite," is a member of the emerald family, but quality gems of this variety are significantly rarer than others. The name change is to avoid confusion with bixbyite, another type of gem named after the same person: Maynard Bixby. Interestingly, pure beryl is colorless and the red is actually the result of the presence of impurities. This is particularly the case with red beryl, which is rich in manganese.
9. Taffeite:What is remarkable about taffeite is not only its rarity but also the way it was discovered. Richard Taaffe is the originator of this curious find, in the form of an already cut and polished stone, seen in a Dublin jewelry store in 1945. It is therefore the only gem to have been identified for the first time from an already cut stone. Before that, most specimens were mistaken for spinels. They remain some of the rarest gems in the world and are still famous for being particularly difficult to identify.
10. Hibonite: Our list of 10 rare gemstones ends with hibonite. This mineral was found on the island of Madagascar in 1953 by Paul Hibon, a French miner. He submitted samples of this magnificent rock to Jean Behier, who later named it "hibonite". This dark mineral is found in the most beautiful metamorphic rocks of Madagascar, and if you are very lucky, you will also find it in the gemstone sales, here on Catawiki! So here is our list of the rarest gemstones in the world. And you, what's your favorite?
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