What's up! This is CM Flint.

There are countless treasures in the world, but some are truly worthy of being called treasures.

Ancient relics sunk in the sea, treasure chests buried on remote islands,

or golden artifacts resting in ruins are the kinds of treasures we commonly imagine.

However, among all the treasures that exist or don't exist in reality,

there is one thing that many people consider a treasure.

That is, of course, gemstones.

(Gemstones are truly worthy of being called treasures.)

Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds—the mere mention of these names makes us gasp in awe.

But did you know that there are even rarer gemstones among them?

In today's post, I want to introduce you to some incredibly rare gemstones that you may not have heard of before.

1. Benitoite

With its distinctive blue hue, benitoite is easily mistaken for sapphire and is an extremely rare gemstone.

This gemstone was first discovered in the United States in 1907 and was initially confused with sapphire due to its similar color.

Benitoite has a much softer hardness than sapphire but shares a similar dispersion rate with diamonds.

Additionally, about 90% of benitoite found is less than one carat in size, making larger ones even rarer.

Benitoite gemstones are found in several regions around the world,

but gem-quality benitoite is only found in the Benito Gem Mine in California, USA.

Due to these characteristics, benitoite was designated as the official state gemstone of California in 1985.

Typically, this gemstone forms hexagonal crystals, but very rarely, triangular-shaped crystals can be found.

As of July 2024, top-grade Benitoite is traded for around $4,000 per carat.

(Crystal of Benitoite. Its shape is quite similar to the Star of David.)

2. Alexandrite

Alexandrite is a gemstone famous for changing color depending on the light source.

It is mainly collected in Russia, Brazil, India, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka.

Alexandrite is also known as the birthstone for July, along with Pearl and Moonstone.

In natural light, alexandrite appears emerald green, but under incandescent light, it shows a reddish-purple hue.

This color-changing effect is known as the alexandrite effect.

Therefore, the value of this gemstone varies greatly depending on how dramatic the color change is.

One special type of the gemstone is known as cat's eye, named for its resemblance to a cat's eye,

referring to a long, shining streak inside of the gemstone, regardless of the gemstone type.

In 2003, an alexandrite with Cat's Eye was traded for $7.44 million at an international jewelry watch fair held in Korea.

(The Cat's Eye gems are known for resembling the shape of a cat's eye.)

Due to its rarity, top-grade alexandrite is traded at $20,000 or more per carat.

3. Paraíba Tourmaline

Tourmaline is traditionally known as the birthstone for October, along with opal.

In Korea and Japan, it is known as Electric Stone (전기석, 電きいし).

It is famous as a color stone with various hues such as pink, blue, green, and yellow.

However, tourmaline is relatively common and thus has limited value as a gemstone.

Among them, there is an extremely rare and valuable type of tourmaline,

first discovered in the Paraíba region of Brazil, known as Paraíba tourmaline.

The most rare and valuable Paraíba tourmaline was discovered in 1989

after more than five years of exploration in a closed mine in the Paraíba region of Brazil.

Until the discovery of Paraíba tourmaline in Mozambique in 2005, demand far exceeded supply.

This rarity persists, with one Paraíba tourmaline being found for every 10,000 diamonds mined.

Due to this rarity, the price of this gemstone can range from at least several thousand dollars per carat.

Currently, depending on the quality, it is known to be priced between $2,000 and $50,000 per carat.

Today, I've introduced several rare gemstones that are not widely known.

There are many things in the world that we may not know about but hold immense value.

The rare gemstones introduced today fall into this category.

Do you have any gemstones that you cherish?

Or is there a gemstone you really want to own?

Please share your stories in the comments!

Tonight, I hope to dream of holding a handful of gemstones.

Thank you!