Grandidierite (very rare)

Item Description

Grandidierite is considered by many to be one of the rarest stones in the world. If you do an internet search for Grandidierite, you might see that it appears on several articles that mention the "Top 10 Rarest Gems in The World". When it comes to the most desirable rare stones in the world, Grandidierite will keep company with gems like Phosphyllite, Painite, Poudretteite, Taaffeite, Jeremejevite and Benitoite. The mineral has been known for over a century as it was named after the famous French explorer Alfred Grandidier (1836?1912) in 1902 by the French mineralogist, Alfred Lacroix in 1902 and named after. Even though this rare magnesium, iron, aluminun borosilicate has been found in several world localities, faceted gems are still exceptionally rare, especially in GEM QUALITY material. The color of top Grandidierite is what draws the attention of collectors. I would say that the best Grandidierites are similar to top Colombian Euclase gems with their intense greenish-blue color. For many years there were virtually no faceted stones of Grandidierite on the market, but a recent discovery in Madagascar has given a great boost to the market. With that said, it's still exceptionally rare to find any Grandidierite gems over 1 carat in weight, and most of them are barely translucent (nearly opaque). We were fortunate enough to purchase a small batch of rough that we recently had faceted. This particular stone is a superb example of the new material for the simple fact that it has very good clarity and a lovely color. This "Emerald" cut gem has a bright greenish-blue color with slight inclusions. It should be noted that the vast majority Grandidierite gems weight less than 1/4 carat, so this particular stone is not what I would consider small by Grandidierite standards! Not only is this a great example of this rare material, but it's also suitable for jewelry as Grandidierite has a hardness of 7.0 - 7.5 which is in line with gems like Quartz or Garnet. If you're a rare gem collector or if you've been searching for one of these new gems, don't miss out on this one as they seem to be already disappearing from the market. In Tucson this year, we saw gems seling for $5,000 per carat and up.