It may sound like a bit of a stretch but there are gems that are even rarer than diamonds. These stones may not be your garden variety high-prized gems, but still are very rare. So, for a moment, put aside the names of diamonds, emeralds and the likes in your mind and run down the names that are incredibly rare. Many of them are also insanely pricey owing to their rarity.
Black Opal: Black opals are so rare that many of us don’t know they even exist. Just as every other miracle in nature, these black, twinkling beauties exist in nature, but in a pitifully low incidence. Although the white variety of opal is fairly common, these ones are just the opposite. The cosmic swirls of colors across a black background is quite an eyeful. They are dark, mysterious and worth quite a lot.
Alexandrite: Named after the Russian Tsar who went by the name of Alexander II in history, these gems are quite chameleon-like in their features. The stones glow like emeralds by the day and turn into rubies at night. Known to be found only in Sri Lanka, eastern part of the African continent and the Russian Urals, these spectacular gems reflect a beautiful shade of blue, green and magenta, in response to different lights. Just like the black opals, these ones too cost an arm and a leg.
Red Beryl: Red beryl is another variety of gemstone that stands high on the list of rare gemstones. Stats indicate that for every red beryl of gem-grade found in the nature, there are about 150, 000 diamonds of similar quality. So, if a jeweler puts a gnarly price on a gem-quality red beryl jewelry, know that it’s for a reason.
Musgravite: Another scarcely known, Amethyst-looking gem that occurs little in nature is musgravite. This stone is so rare that as of the year 2017, there has only been 8 of these. The stone in scarce quantity occurs in Antarctica, Greenland, Madagascar, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. The stone has the extremely rare quality of iridescence from its dark, purple core.
Benitoite: The world has only one known commercial deposit of Benitoite and that’s in San Benito, CA. Even so, the deposit is no longer an active one. That makes these magnificent sparkly blue stones one of the rarest gems in nature. The stone is found only in sizes lesser than 2 carats.
