Extremely Rare stones: Flaunt em if you got em...

[rparker1998]

Does anyone own any? Has anyone seen any in person? How much does it cost? There are a few of these that are REALLY pretty....

Bromellite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/bromellite.html

Chambersite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/chambersite.html

Grandidierite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/grandidierite.html

Hsianghualite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/hsianghualite.html

Taaffeite/Musgravite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/taaffeite.html

Painite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/painite.html

Poudretteite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/poudretteite.html

Serendibite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/serendibite.html

Zektzerite
http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/zektzerite.html

 

[rparker1998]

it's ok ya'all...i don't have any either but

 

[RockHugger]

I have jeremejevite but I'm selling it...so can't post on here . I have a bunch of red beryl in my collection, and hauynes...but nothing else on the list.

 

[rparker1998]

I have quite a few jeremejevite myself. 4 in fact I have 2 TINY GRAINS OF SAND, bixbite...

 

[LD]

I've got Painite, Taaffeite, Jeremejevite, Bixbite, Serendibite, Benitoite, Hauyne etc. Most are 1ct or under and if you search under my name you'll find photos of most of them. Don't know if it counts but I've got a very large Pezzotaite also. I guess it depends on what your definition of extremely rare stones is?

 

[colorluvr]

I have a .73 ct. round (5.7mm) jeremejevite that I just recently purchased from Scott (American-Thai), but none of the others.

 

[Andelain]

Tagging this thread so I can post my alexandrite tomorrow.

 

[Arkteia]

I have a pezzotaite, small and very clean, and a green tanzanite. I have some chrystals from my geology collection, one is a muscovite. I stongly suspect I have a sphalerite (not the beautiful one, merely a geology specimen) but have no time to verify it. A huge rhodonite which one could use instead of a hammer. Dosens of jasper of all colors. Transparet quartz with mica inside - can not say it is rare, but the mica effect is interesting. A petrified coral that belongs to a paleonthology museum.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Tagging this thread so I can post my alexandrite tomorrow.

You mean today? Pics, please!

Ok, I will go through my collection: hauyne, red calcite, hackmanite, pink rhodocrosite and some interesting quartz inclusions.

 

[T L]

I have a cuprite, sphalerite and benitoite, and some other rare gems with names that escape me right now.

 

[LD]

Is Sphalerite considered "rare"? I've got some but haven't listed them above because I don't think they fall into that category - hence my question above!!! What is "rare"?

For example, Alexandrite isn't rare. However, GOOD Alexandrite is!

I'd be interested to know what people consider makes a stone "rare".

 

[T L]

Is Sphalerite considered "rare"? I've got some but haven't listed them above because I don't think they fall into that category - hence my question above!!! What is "rare"?

For example, Alexandrite isn't rare. However, GOOD Alexandrite is!

I'd be interested to know what people consider makes a stone "rare".

Sphalerite is rare, I think it's only found in a few places in the world, and not in abundant quantity.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Is Sphalerite considered "rare"? I've got some but haven't listed them above because I don't think they fall into that category - hence my question above!!! What is "rare"?

For example, Alexandrite isn't rare. However, GOOD Alexandrite is!

I'd be interested to know what people consider makes a stone "rare".

Sphalerite is rare, I think it's only found in a few places in the world, and not in abundant quantity.

I have a smallish sphalerite, it's not a particularly good one, and it's difficult to photo. I have to say it looks better underwater.

 

[Pandora II]

A decent sized benitoite...

I have some rocks in my mineral collection that are very rare because they contain elements that were not previously known to exist in the areas where I found them. However they are extremely dull to look at!

 

[iLander]

Is Sphalerite considered "rare"? I've got some but haven't listed them above because I don't think they fall into that category - hence my question above!!! What is "rare"?

For example, Alexandrite isn't rare. However, GOOD Alexandrite is!

I'd be interested to know what people consider makes a stone "rare".

Sphalerite is rare, I think it's only found in a few places in the world, and not in abundant quantity.

I have a smallish sphalerite, it's not a particularly good one, and it's difficult to photo. I have to say it looks better underwater.

Very cool! Why the water? Tell us about the properties of sphalerite!

 

[minousbijoux]

Yes please, I second that! Your underwater sphalerite is gorgeous - too bad you can't trick it into thinking its underwater all the time

 

[T L]

Here's a terrible photo of my sphalerite. It's very clean, and difficult to photograph because it sparkles too much and is very dispersive. It's about two and a half carats. I wish it were a diamond though, it sure looks like one. The funky thing about sphalerite is that these stones have virtually no tilt window. While I can see a tilt window in diamond even, I can never see any in sphalerite.

 

[T L]

A decent sized benitoite...

I have some rocks in my mineral collection that are very rare because they contain elements that were not previously known to exist in the areas where I found them. However they are extremely dull to look at!

I have a 75 pointer, does that count??

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Is Sphalerite considered "rare"? I've got some but haven't listed them above because I don't think they fall into that category - hence my question above!!! What is "rare"?

For example, Alexandrite isn't rare. However, GOOD Alexandrite is!

I'd be interested to know what people consider makes a stone "rare".

Sphalerite is rare, I think it's only found in a few places in the world, and not in abundant quantity.

I have a smallish sphalerite, it's not a particularly good one, and it's difficult to photo. I have to say it looks better underwater.

Very cool! Why the water? Tell us about the properties of sphalerite!

It has a high RI 2.369 (Diamond is 2.419) and is very soft 3.5-4. It's dispersion is .156 (diamond .044)

This is a great example of Sphalerite, and it's only $4999

Mine is really dark, color zoned, and poorly cut. I think the water aided in reflecting light back to the table so it brightened up the stone a lot, like a one way mirror

 

[T L]

I remember when you could get huge sphalerites like that for $20/ct. *sigh*

 

[rparker1998]

I have a nice sampling of benitoite from Gem Trader i think it is. It was the ones they listed that were ranging from clear to dark deep sapphire blue.

I also have zultanite - aka color change diaspore. I have a few rare stones too that I can't think of right now.

BUT to answer the questions about what is classified as rare - I just check here:

http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/index.html

Again, photo's of all my new stones some day...

 

[colorluvr]

I thought the OP was just talking about the stones classed as "extemely rare" on the realgems website

I have this 4.06 ct. sphalerite. It is a really nice stone (I think ) I got it from seriously-gemented on ebay. My pic isn't that great, so I included the vendor photo also. I also have few others from the "very rare" list: demantoid, tsavorite, & umbalite (I didn't realize these three were considered "very rare"), euclase, hackmamite, montebrasite (a blue one and a green one) petalite, pollucite, staurolite, and triphylite. I also have a sunset quartz that is supposed to be quite rare. OH, and I have a little alexandrite that is being certed by AIGS which I should receive some time next month.

 

[jstarfireb]

The rarest stone in my collection is probably my benitoite. I love it. I also have a demantoid and 2 alexandrites.

 

[rparker1998]

I thought the OP was just talking about the stones classed as "extemely rare" on the realgems website

I have this 4.06 ct. sphalerite. It is a really nice stone (I think ) I got it from seriously-gemented on ebay. My pic isn't that great, so I included the vendor photo also. I also have few others from the "very rare" list: demantoid, tsavorite, & umbalite (I didn't realize these three were considered "very rare"), euclase, hackmamite, montebrasite (a blue one and a green one) petalite, pollucite, staurolite, and triphylite. I also have a sunset quartz that is supposed to be quite rare. OH, and I have a little alexandrite that is being certed by AIGS which I should receive some time next month.

Well actually I was - as per the links I posted - but this is turning into a good discussion none the less.

 

[LD]

I think this is interesting too because I believe there are far fewer "rare" stones than people think!

rparker - Zultanite/Diaspore flooded the market about 5 years ago and so it's not one I would say is "rare" BUT finding one with an excellent colour shift and a decent size is certainly a challenge! Here's one of mine - it's not a favourite by any means but it does shift colour well. This one is 4.64ct.

Here's also my favourite Alex. It's just a tad over 3ct, eye clean with a phenomenal colour change. This one's my baby! I had a really bad Alex phase years ago and now have over 50 of them (maybe more - she says sheepishly) but I've seen hundreds and hundreds along the way and similarly to Diaspore, a good one can be really hard to find.

Here's also one of my Sphalerites. It's 4.10ct. It looks like liquid lava!

 

[Andelain]

I'm not sure now if these qualify for this thread, but here's 2 Alex's that I have. The both go from green to red, the loose pear is very dark. The oval is dark, but not too dark. It's a deep rich green in daylight and maroon under incandescant light.

The pear is around 75-80 points..



This one is 86 points and really does show it's color change. I just wish I could get some accurate color to show up in the pictures.

 

[m76steve]

to rparker1998-iv been posting my favorites many times-a favorite is my demantoid garnet pendent & my alexandrite prndents-they have been shown before but they are sweet items to me-rare or not-steve....

 

[blithesome71]

Not sure if this is "extremely" rare but this is something not common esp. this big & clean

My most favorite right now among my gems hehe

7.60ct CLINOHUMITE (vvs2, 13.2x11.2x7.8mm) aka Sunflower Stone

Palagems: "In addition to spinel, clinohumite is also recovered at Kuh-i-Lal. Cut stones can be lovely and are locally termed "sunflower stone." Such stones have also been mentioned in the ancient accounts of the mines."

 

[blithesome71]

BUT to answer the questions about what is classified as rare - I just check here:

http://www.realgems.org/list_of_gemstones/index.html

Thanks for this informative link! Hmmm, mine falls on the "Very Rare" category hehe

 

[kenny]

This website is not an authority on gems but here is their list of the 10 most rare gems.

http://listverse.com/2007/12/02/top-10-rarest-gems/

In fact there are several lists you can google up, and they do not match.