The most expensive, rare and largest gems

The more difficult it is to get a nugget, the less its location on the planet, the more expensive it will cost. Limited stocks make the price of a gem unbelievably expensive. But demand is high, and as long as it grows, the cost of the rarest stones on the planet will grow with it.

They can be precious and semiprecious. The first list contains stones that are very rare in nature, and they acquire their best decorative qualities after jewelry processing. And the more weight and decorativeness of a stone, the more valuable it is. Consider the most expensive (at cost) gems of the planet.

• Red diamond. It is distinguished by a rich crimson color. Nowhere in the world can it be obtained, except for Australia (we are talking about large locations). In small quantities, the gem is found in Brazil. The cost of red diamond is approximately $ 1 million.

• Grandidierite. This is a transparent nugget with a large amount of iron, which is able to shine immediately in three shades - white, faded blue and greenish. In the world of such stones there are only 8 specimens, equivalent in value to the characteristics presented to the nugget. The cost of a stone reaches at least 100 thousand dollars.

• Padparaj. The romantic name translates as "sunrise." If the gem is cut, it will shimmer in red, pinkish color, as well as a salmon shade. The location of the stone is only 2. It costs about 30 thousand dollars.

• Jade. Green sacred stone revered by the ancient Aztecs. The figurine of Buddha, the symbol of Thailand, is made of this stone. And he is also known as the mascot of Jade (where the name came from), the main character of the internationally popular telenovela "Clone".The cost of a stone is about 20 thousand dollars.

• Diamond. It is known as the hardest stone on the planet. The price is affected by the properties of a particular instance. The highest quality will cost about 15 thousand dollars.

The list goes on, and it will definitely have sapphire and emerald. Sapphire has a bright blue color, emerald green. Their price ranges from 6-8 thousand dollars. In the same list will be alexandrite, touribaline paraiba, ruby.

Semi-precious stones are less elite than their counterparts. Therefore, they are more affordable. An example of such a stone is aquamarine, for one carat the cost will be 30-60 dollars. Amethyst It is considered the most expensive among quartz.

They become "superstars" - they are sold at major auctions, their fate is monitored by media and jewelry experts, art dealers, etc. Let's talk about the famous large minerals.

• Mogul. This is one of the largest emeralds on Earth, it was sold at the beginning of the millennium for 2.2 million dollars at Christie's auction. The stone weighs 217.8 carats and is 10 cm high. The lines of the Muslim prayer are engraved on it, as well as an oriental floral design. The name of the owner of the stone was not disclosed.

• Yellow Tiffany Diamond. This is a very large stone, its weight before cutting was 287.42 carats. The stone was mined in South Africa; it was bought in 1878 by the American jeweler Charles Tiffany. A golden bird encrusted with diamonds and rubies was placed on an already faceted stone. The decoration was worn only 2 times, one of them was the scene of the world cinema hit “Breakfast at Tiffany's” with Audrey Hepburn.

• White Cullinan Diamond (or "Star of Africa"). Initially, it weighed 3,026 carats. Found it at the beginning of the century in South Africa, it was assumed that the stone is a fragment of an even larger crystal. In 1908 it was split, several diamonds were made of stone, and only one piece of 69.5 carats was left without cutting. One of the "fragments" of the stone is inserted into the crown of the British Empire.

• The largest ruby, not yet named, found in Greenland. Its weight is 440 carats, the structure is integral. In terms of hardness, ruby ​​is the second after diamond, although it is 140 times softer than “stone stones”.

• Diamond "Regent". In 1701, a stone weighing 410 carats was found in the mines of the Golconda. A lot of misadventures and human deaths are associated with it. Today the “damned” diamond is kept in the Louvre.

• Sapphire "Lonely Star". Its weight is 9179 carats, had a different name - Harol Roper. Among sapphires, in principle, there are many famous large stones. For example, the famous “Eye of Allah” adorned the throne of Shah Nadir, and sapphire “Logan” of 62 carats flaunted in the ring of John Rockefeller.

It is worth mentioning here a stone that is known even to those who have little interest in jewelry. Remember the huge pendant of the depths of the sea that the heroine of the Oscar-winning Titanic Rose wore? By the way, the jewelry had its own prototype, the fateful diamond Hope.

For example, a jeweler who originally sold a stone to Louis XIV tore a pack of dogs. The king himself subsequently injured himself on a rusty nail and died of blood poisoning. The next owner of the stone was Marie Antoinette, who, as you know, was expected by the guillotine. The new owner of the stone, Henry Hope, died of a very strange disease, his son was poisoned, his grandson lost his fortune. And on this list are some more terrible tragedies.

When James Cameron was looking for an "actor" for the role of a blue diamond, he went through many expensive, unique, beautiful options. But rejected everything. He considered the real blue diamond to be very dark, sapphires seemed too dull to him. But the tanzanite conquered Cameron immediately.And this is also a very expensive stone, because it is mined only in African Tanzania. For the best romantic scenes tanzanite itself was worthy of an Oscar, because after the success of the film, thousands of fans were waiting for a copy of Rose's necklace.

To measure the hardness of a mineral, the Mohs scale is used. Friedrich Moos - a German geologist, crystallographer, developed a scale for comparing metals by hardness by scratching. This means that scratches and grooves were created on the surface of the mineral with another mineral (or other material). What is included in the list of the most durable and strong stones?

1. Diamond. Formally, he deservedly leads the Mohs scale (10). The hardness of a stone depends on its purity. And even the cleanest and hardest diamond can be scratched, but only with other diamonds. And although diamond preserves the primacy in the hardness scale, this is a bit outdated data. Imagine how many minerals a person could not yet study. And relatively recently, researchers said - there are 2 more stones that have managed to surpass diamond in hardness. This is wurtzite boron nitride, which under natural conditions is formed as a result of a volcanic eruption. It is 18% stronger than diamond. Lonsdaleit is a hexagonal diamond, in its grid there are 6, not 8 (like in a diamond) atoms. It is 58% harder than diamond.
2. Corundum. It is a crystalline form of alumina with traces of various inclusions. Blue corundum is known to us as sapphire, red as ruby, and orange-yellow - padparaja. Mohs hardness 9.
3. Topaz. Hardness 8 on the Mohs scale. This is a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine, actively used in jewelry, popular with the buyer. It is considered semiprecious.
4. Quartz. Gets 7 on the Mohs scale. After orthoclase, it is the second most common mineral. Widely used in industry.
5. Orthoclase. An important mineral that is involved in glass production, ceramic, porcelain, can be part of cleaning powders. Gets 6 on the Mohs scale.

Following these stones go apatite, fluorite, calcite, gypsum and talc.

And now for the stones whose names you might never have heard before.

• Musgrave. In Australia, a mineral was first discovered in the area of ​​the Musgrave Mountain Range. Then he was found in Madagascar, in Greenland, Tanzania, even in Antarctica. Of particular value are green and purple musgravites.
• Painite. He was discovered in Burma in 1956. Mineralogist Arthur Payne saw a strange mineral, and the find was named in his honor. Bright red gems are of particular value today, while brown ones are cheaper. In recent years, the gem has grown significantly in price.
• Eremeevit. The stone found in Siberia is named after the Russian academician Eremeev. It can be transparent, and maybe sky blue and pale green. A solid stone (you cannot call it brittle for sure) with a bright shine costs $ 10,000 per carat.
• Taaffeit. The peculiarity of the stone is that it was discovered after processing. The gem is very rare, in color it can be from faint pink to lavender.

As for the most "starry" stones in the world ranking, it is difficult to choose a clear leader. But unusual, for example, can be called Graff Pink, it is the most expensive pink diamond on the planet. Lawrence Graff is the world's largest gem dealer; in 2010, he bought pink diamond at 24.78 carats.

The world of stones and rare minerals is like a child’s game on Treasure Island, it’s difficult to get enough and lose interest if you already delve into the history of mineralogy, if you have traced the fate of more than one great stone and not one human history associated with it. Many questions arise: why do people give crazy money for some jewelry, why are such gems needed, what is their real value?

About the most expensive gems, see below.