The 10 most expensive gemstones in the world

They say that the most valuable thing in the world is the mind, but the most expensive is cut diamonds, diamonds. However, they are not the only ones. We present you the most expensive precious stones in the world – the top 10 kings of jewelry Olympus.

10th place – tsavorite

Fig 1. Tsavorite – price up to $10,000 per carat

Many people associate garnet with the dark wine-colored mineral, pyrope. However, there are many varieties of garnet with many different shades. Spessartine is also garnet, but has a cheerful orange color. The spectrum of grossulars (another type of garnet) ranges from white (leucite) to green. The latter is one of the most expensive stones in the world and is called tsavorite.

This mineral of bright grassy color with hypnotic luster was discovered relatively recently – in 1967 of the last century. The first specimens are said to have been found in the Tsavo National Park in Kenya. And then Tiffany&Co jewelers made a real brand out of green garnet, which, together with its rarity (tsavorite is 300 times rarer than emerald) turned it into almost the most expensive stone in the world. Depending on the weight and characteristics of the stone, the price per carat can be up to $10 thousand.

9th place – red spinel

Fig 2. Red spinel – price from $8,000 per carat

Another representative of the jewelry Olympus is noble red spinel. Once these stones were not even distinguished from rubies – they are so similar. Red spinel, which was associated with power and wealth, adorned the crowns of the world’s greatest rulers. The first imperial crown (the most expensive in the world), made for the coronation of Catherine II by jeweler Eckart, was crowned with a huge scarlet gem – a noble spinel weighing 398.72 carats. Today, sellers ask from $8 per carat for a high-quality ruby spinel.

8th place – green garnet (demantoid)

Fig 3. Green garnet (demantoid) – price up to $10,000 per carat

Another variety of garnet – demantoid – is also in our TOP of the most expensive stones in the world. The favorite stone of the great Carl Fabergé and Nicholas II belongs to andradites. It is distinguished by its deep green color and light dispersion, which is even higher than that of a diamond. To fully reveal the delightful play of light, jewelers prefer to give demantoid a diamond cut. Perhaps this is why its name can be translated as “diamond-like”.

Demantoid is an extremely rare mineral that is mined mainly in Russia (sometimes called “Ural emerald”) and African countries. A quality stone that has not been heat-treated (sometimes demantoid is heated to improve its color) and has a weight of 5 carats will cost a connoisseur a tidy sum – up to $10 thousand per carat.

7th place – emerald

Fig 4. Emerald – price up to $20,000 per carat

One of the oldest gemstones – emerald – continues to win hearts… and wallets. It is said that the first mines appeared in Egypt 330 years B.C., and the famous Cleopatra adored emeralds. Today, these noble green minerals are mined in Zambia, Colombia, Brazil and just a little bit in Russia. The best emeralds of high quality with rich color and no impurities can cost up to $20 thousand per carat. The most expensive stone in the world sold at auction is the 18-carat Rockefeller Emerald. The price per carat amounted to $305,000. But this is not a record. Colombian “Fura” weighing 2 kilograms (11.35 thousand carats) experts estimated at $150 million, and the nugget “Bahia” weighing 1.9 million carats, “pulled” to $ 400 million.

6th place – Paraiba tourmaline

Figure 5. Paraiba tourmaline – price from $20,000 to $30,000 per carat

Another most expensive jewelry stone in the world can compete with colorless diamonds in terms of price. The best specimens of Paraiba tourmaline cost from $20,000 to $30,000 per carat. And the price of outstanding gems of Brazilian origin can reach up to $60 thousand per carat. The largest Paraiba (Ethereal Carolina Divine Paraiba) weighs 191.87 carats. The price of this radiant delightful diamond-cut oval stone is about $125 million. That’s $651,482 per carat.

Paraiba (the stone is named after the Brazilian province where it was first found at the end of the last century) is perhaps the rarest variety of tourmaline. Its bright turquoise coloring with the effect of neon glow resembles the color of the purest sea water in paradise tropical lagoons. It’s also very similar to Tiffany’s signature hue. Like diamonds and other precious minerals, Paraiba tourmaline is considered an investment stone.

5th place is the Padparadscha sapphire

Fig 6. Padparadscha sapphire – priced up to $50,000 per carat

Moving on to the next most-important gem. Like garnet, sapphire can have many shades, so the epithet “sapphire” (so they say about the deep blue tone) is not quite correct. In nature there are pink, green, yellow, purple, white, orange sapphires. There is also Padparadscha, a “sunny” stone, in which pink, scarlet and fiery shades are surprisingly harmoniously combined. Padparadscha sapphire is mined in Sri Lanka (the name means “lotus color” in Sinhalese), Thailand, Madagascar and Vietnam. The “solar” minerals from Sri Lanka are considered to be the benchmark ones – their price reaches $50 thousand per carat.

4th place – blue sapphire

Fig 7. Blue sapphire – price $30,000 per carat

The classic sapphire in the shades “royal blue” and “cornflower blue” is the most expensive variety of sapphire. A stone without flaws, weighing from 5 carats (remember: the larger and better the crystal, the higher the price per carat) can be valued at $30,000 per carat. However, provided that the stone has ideal characteristics, is mined in Kashmir and has not been heat-treated to improve its color. The most expensive sapphire in the world weighs 27.68 carats. It was sold for $243,000 per carat at a Sotheby’s auction in 2015.

3rd place is ruby

Fig 8. Burmese ruby – price $70,000 per carat

A large (from 5 carats) Burmese ruby of a rich deep shade of “pigeon blood” will cost $70,000 or more per carat. However, this is if we are talking about an unheated ruby. Minerals from Burma are considered to be reference minerals, but rubies are also mined in other places on the planet, for example, in Mozambique. The largest ruby sold at auction was Sunrise. Its weight is 25.59 carats and its value is S30.3 million. That is, each carat of this unique gem “pulled” more than $1 million.

2nd place – blue diamond

Fig 9. Blue diamond – price $50,000 per carat

Let’s move on to the champions of our TOP. So what is the most expensive gemstone in the world? Of course, it’s a diamond! But the most valuable are colored diamonds. The second place rightfully belongs to the rarest blue diamond of Fancy Vivid Blue shade. If the mass of such a stone is small, the cost of 1 carat reaches $50 thousand. However, the larger the gem, the more expensive each carat is. So 12-carat The Blue Moon of Josephine, which was auctioned off in 2015 in Geneva, cost the buyer $48.4 million – about $4 million per carat. The most famous and expensive blue and blue diamonds are mined in Australia and, of course, South Africa.

1st place – red diamond

Fig. 10: Red diamond – price from $500,000 to $1,000,000 per carat.

So, it is time to finally answer the question of what is the most expensive stone in the world. It is the rarest pure Fancy Red diamond, of which there are only about a hundred in the world. A red diamond cannot be bought in a jewelry store, and if it appears at an auction, it becomes a sensation. It is almost impossible to meet stones whose mass would exceed 1 carat. But even then, the price of this carat would be in the range of 0.5 to $1 million. The most expensive and the largest red diamond is recognized as Moussaieff Red – a crystal weighing 5.11 carats with a “trillion” cut. Some time ago, the stone was bought for $8 million. That is, each carat of this king of diamonds cost the buyer about $1.56 million.

Why buy expensive and rare stones

What makes diamonds so expensive? First of all, owning them is prestigious. You become a head above the rest because you can afford real treasures. And secondly, it is a great investment. Prices for diamonds are constantly rising, while production around the world is falling. There are fewer diamonds, and scarcity is the main factor in the price increase. Experts note that in the current year 2022 alone, the value of stones has increased by about 20%, and this is not the limit. So it is a great idea to own a large uncut diamond or a magnificent piece of jewelry with this stone.