5 Of The Most Valuable Gemstones You Never Heard About Till Now

When you hear the word, “gemstone,” what comes to mind? Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds most likely; the most commonly thought of gemstones and most discussed gemstones in different forms of media for TV, literature, and music. Not just tiny gemstones either, large, beautiful and well-polished collections such as the magnificent Crown Jewels or fictional gems with special abilities. But there are jewels that are just as beautiful or more and even rarer than these popular gemstones that aren’t discussed or admired as much as they should be:

• Paraiba Tourmaline
• Charoite
• Maw sit sit
• Clinohumite
• Demantoid Garnet

Here’s a look at these 5 most valuable gemstones that you most likely have never heard of till now and what makes them so special compared to other gemstones.

Paraiba Tourmaline

Unlike other tourmaline, Paraiba tourmaline is extremely rare for its bright teal color. Discovered in Paraiba of Brazil by a miner named Heitor Barbosa in 1989, similar tourmaline has been found in Nigeria and Mozambique as well. Demand has always been very high for this gemstone that can only be found in small quantities. More and more deposits have tourmaline are being found, but the veins are very small so the carats are just as small. The price for this particular gemstone is very high in the five digit range right up there with sapphires, emeralds, and other desired gemstones.

Charoite

Charoite is a beautiful violet and lavender colored gemstone that is so unique, many people don’t believe it is a real gemstone when they first observe it in its natural state or in stores because of its waved texture that looks like fresh paint. What makes this gemstone even rarer is that it can only be found in one area, Siberia where it was recently discovered in 1978 near the Charo River. Many people believe that Charoite got its name from the river or it is from the Russian word, “chary” which means “charm” or “magic.” Taking a closer look at this gemstone, it appears to have swirled veins that are very similar to other minerals such as granite and marble. Some veins in charoite are not shades of purple, but distinctly different colors of orange, green, or black.

Maw sit sit

The Maw sit sit is more of a rock than a mineral, but just as beautiful as any other gemstone and often used for jewelry as well carved sculptures. It was discovered in Burma in the Himalayas and fairly recently a couple of decades ago in 1963 by Swiss gemologist, Dr. Edward Gubelin, and can be easily distinguished by its intense emerald green color and dark green to black line marks or “veins.” Because it is a metamorphic rock, each maw sit sit will have different veins and the color will vary. More of a rock than a gemstone, it can be considered as a distant relation to the jade family and can be found in areas where jade is mined. Like maw sit sit, different forms of metamorphic jade such as jadeite and nephrite can be found in deep shades of emerald green, the most popular color for jade. However, jade can come in a variety of different colors as well such as pink, white, shades of purple, blue, black, orange and yellow.

Clinohumite

The clinohumite gemstone is very rare and was first discovered in 1876 from limestone that erupted from Mount Vesuvius in Italy. Named after English mineralogist, Sir Abraham Hume, who collected not only different stones and minerals, but he collected artwork as well. There are only three other areas where the clinohumite gemstone can be discovered in Tajikistan, Siberia and Tanzania. The gemstone family, humite, also includes jerrygibbsite, clinohumite, and alleghanyite. The clinohumite appears in a range of colors from brown to yellow gold and light to dark. With ties to Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that erupted and buried Pompeii and Herculaneum, this gemstone has significant historic value to Italy and the Roman civilization.

Demantoid Garnet

Unlike some of these gemstones that have been discovered recently, the demantoid garnet has been around for quite some time and is very popular for it’s beautiful green color and similar brilliance to other gemstones. However, unlike common gemstones such as the sapphire and ruby, a demantoid garnet actually has a higher refractive index that makes this rare gemstone stand out against the rest of them. The most rare demantoid garnet is that which comes from Russia which was discovered in 1853 in the Ural Mountains and was a very valuable gemstone to Czars who ruled during that era. As a rare find for a gemstone; it has inclusions of gold that stand out against the green that looks like a horsetail. This stone is usually only available as five carats and anything even remotely close to being ten carats is pretty much unheard of by gemologists.

Before the rare demantoid garnet was formally discovered and observed, it was known throughout the world and is even mentioned in some biblical writings. There are many myths that refer to the demantoid garnet as a symbol for faith, constancy, and truth as well as a means of protection for travelers and diseases.

These most valuable gemstones are just as beautiful as commonly known gemstones but what more, they are unique in comparison. These gemstones are unique because of their singular locations, color, texture, and quality.