Most of us have always been led to believe that diamonds are the major stone to gleefully accept in an engagement or wedding ring. Although diamonds come in a large range of colors such as yellow, red, brown, blue, green, pink, purple, black, and orange, the colorless and clear diamonds at the local jewelry store aren’t even actually rare.
The following are only four of the gems that are worth more and are much less plentiful than diamonds, even if we have perhaps never heard of them before.
Red Beryl
Would you believe that this gemstone, also known as “scarlet emerald”, “red emerald” and “bixbite, ” is worth approximately 8,000 times the value of a similar-quality ruby, which is also a rare gem? Its chemical level is closely related to an aquamarine and an emerald, but it is considerably rarer than either, is extremely difficult to mine. and is limited to parts of New Mexico and Utah. As a consequence, prices have been reported to reach as high as $10,000 per carat for its cut stones!
Benitoite
Benitoite is a striking blue stone that has only been found in gemstone quality close to the headwaters of the San Benito River in California. It became the state’s official gem. The most distinctive feature is how awesome it is when placed under a UV light and fluoresces a brilliant color like glowing blue chalk. Although first described at the turn of the 20th century, the origin of its fluorescent properties and color still are not well understood, but make for gorgeous jewelry.
Tanzanite
This is 1,000 times rarer than a diamond! It is found in limited supply almost exclusively in the Mount Kilimanjaro foothills. It also exhibits dramatic shifts in color, changing when viewed in unpolarized, vertically polarized, and horizontally polarized light, and moving from left to right. This gives a much more unique and interesting shine than your typical faceted diamond.
Morenci Turquoise
While turquoise itself isn’t considered to be incredibly rare (or at least not rare enough to be expensive), Morenci turquoise is a particular type that has become incredibly rare as the only mine able to collect it is no longer in operation. That means that there is a finite amount available on the market.
What makes this type of turquoise special is the iron pyrite (or fools gold) that is found woven in the seams of the stone. These days you can get a beautiful sterling silver Morenci turquoise ring for your spouse that will have an appreciating value over time.
Painite
This ranks among the Earth’s rarest minerals. In 2005, The Guinness Book of World Records called it the world’s rarest gemstone mineral. It is not as rare as it used to be due to the discovery of a new repository in Myanmar, the actual source of the original stones, and two major new localities in the Mogok area, that have all led to the recovery of several thousand fragments and crystals.
Alexandrite
Alexandrite is another with strange optical properties and dramatic color shifts. Depending on the kind of light it is in, it changes colors independently of the viewing angle when it is viewed in artificial light. In sunlight, the gem is greenish-blue. In soft incandescent light, the gem is a red-purple.
You are encouraged to seek out other stones that are rarer than diamonds, if you can afford them, when considering a very special gift to your spouse or to your spouse-to-be.
