Coloured stones have captured people’s imagination worldwide for thousands of years. A symbol of wealth and power, they express all the shades of beauty. Some specimens of such natural miracles can be so rare that their prices are astronomically high, which explains the great popularity of this type of merchandise among collectors and investors. We will now review the most expensive coloured stones in the world, each imbued with its own magic and mysticism.
1. Pink Star Diamond:
The Pink Star Diamond is a perfect and oval-cut 59.6-carat pink diamond, a record holder for being the world’s priciest gemstone ever to be sold at auction. The price it sold at was $71.2 million in 2017 at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, smashing a previous record set five years ago. Its exceptional size, combined with its pink hue and nearly flawless transparency, created a uniqueness that can rarely be found among other existing diamonds.
2. Jadeite:
Jadeite, a particularly precious form of jade deeply intertwined with Chinese culture and history, is highly sought after and known as “Imperial Jade.” In 2014, the “Hutton-Mdivani Necklace,” featuring jadeite, sold for $27.4 million, making it one of the most expensive pieces of jadeite jewelry ever.
3. Blue Moon Diamond:
The Blue Moon Diamond is a 12.03-carat blue diamond that turned heads with the sale price of $48.4 million in 2015. Its clear bright blue color added to the fact that it has near-perfect clarity utilizes the structure of one of the rarest diamonds ever found. What makes this stone so rare is its unique color, which is actually caused by trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure.
4. Pink Diamond:
Pink diamonds are among the rarest of all colored diamonds, and their value increases exponentially with size and color intensity. The Graff Pink, a 24.78-carat pink diamond, was sold for $46 million in 2010. Its mesmerizing pink hue and flawless clarity have made it one of the most famous diamonds in the world.
5.Emeralds:
Emerald: Among all natural gemstones, emeralds are rarer than diamonds. So, this makes Emerald a pretty expensive. The 25.59 carats, cushion-shaped emerald Christies ring was sold for a price of $25,878,500, which is the world record for an emerald sold at auction. Because of its rich green color, emeralds have always been favored. For many centuries, this has been one of the most valuable stones. The “Rockefeller Emerald” is an 18.04-carat emerald that attained a new world record when it reached $5.5 million in 2017. Because of its excellent color and clarity, this has become one of the best-quality emeralds ever found.
6. Rubies:
Rubies are among the most precious-colored gems, valued highly for their red hue and centuries of significance. In May 2015, the “Sunrise Ruby,” a 25.59-carat Burmese ruby, set the record as the most expensive ruby ever sold, fetching $30.3 million. Its unique and unsurpassed color, along with its size and brilliance, make it a true wonder of nature.
7. Padparadscha Sapphire:
Padparadscha sapphires are truly rare because of their rare pink-orange color, which conveys the natural lotus flower. It is named after the Sanskrit word for “aquatic lotus flower.” Due to its rarity of color proportion, Padparadscha sapphires become more significant in value, with some of the stones selling for as much as $30,000 per carat.
8. Alexandrite:
Alexandrite is one of the most remarkable color-change stones in the world, turning green in daylight and red under incandescent light. Originally found in the Ural Mountains of Russia, it was named after Tsar Alexander II. Top-quality alexandrite can sell for as much as $70,000 per carat, making it one of the world’s most expensive gems.
9. Grandidierite:
Grandidierite: This is one of the rarest stones in the world, possessing a captivating blue-green color. It was discovered first in Madagascar by the year 1902 and was named after the French explorer Alfred Grandidier. High-quality specimens of the stone are hardly available and can cost more than $100,000 per carat.
10. Taaffeite:
Taaffeite is a gemstone recognized by accident first, being so extremely rare that not more than one could be identified at the time. In 1945, gemologist Richard Taaffe mistakenly identified it as spinel. The unique violet-to-red coloration and the extreme rarity of the mineral make taaffeite highly valued, with prices catering up to $35,000 per carat.
