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7 Most Expensive
Crystals in the world
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z 1. Pink Star
Diamond

Discovered: 1999

Color: Fancy vivid pink

Specific Gravity: 3.52

Estimated Value: US$71.2 million

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About: The Pink Star Diamond is a "Fancy Vivid Pink" diamond that was mined
in South Africa. Weighing in at 59.6 carats, this gem was sold by Sotheby's for a
record $83 million: more than any other diamond - or any gem - ever sold.
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2. Painite

Discovered: 1950s

Color: Red, brownish, orange-red

Specific Gravity: 4.01

Estimated Value: US$61.1 million

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About: Minerologist Arthur C.D. Paine encountered an unusual brownish stone

in Myanmar (Burma) that turned out to be one of the planet's rarest gems. For
decades, only two cut specimens were known to exist, causing the jewel to be
more or less "priceless." In recent years, a few more crystals have been found. It
has a composition of Calcium, Zirconium, Boron, Aluminum, Oxygen.
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3. Musgravite

Discovered: 1967

Color: Grey green to green

Specific Gravity: 3.62

Estimated Value: US$57 million

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About: Another precious stone in the same family as Taaffeite, this stone's color
ranges from a brilliant greenish gray to purple. Musgravite was discovered in
1967 in the Musgrave Range of Southern Australia, and for many years there
were only eight known specimens. Recently, small quantities of Musgravite have
been located in Greenland, Antarctica, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Tanzania.
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4. Jadeite

Discovered: 1863

Color: Apple-green, emerald-green

Specific Gravity: 3.24

Estimated Value: US$3 million

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About: Prized most when it is colored a deep, translucent green, Jadeite is

mainly found in limited quantities in Myanmar. Christie's auction house sold a
Jadeite necklace for nearly $10 million. The highest quality "Imperial" Jadeite
can sell for millions of dollars per carat when cut and polished. It is
composed of Sodium, Aluminum, Iron, Silicon, Oxygen.
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5. Alexandrite

Discovered: 1833

Color: Green, Blue, Yellow, Red,

Pink, Purple, Grey

Specific Gravity: 3.70

Estimated Value: US$7 million

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About: Alexandrite is the color-change variety of the mineral chrysoberyl. Green by Day.
Alexandrite is bluish green in daylight or fluorescent light. Red by Night. Alexandrite is
purplish red in incandescent light or candlelight.
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6. Benitoite

Discovered: 1907

Color: Blue

Specific Gravity: 3.65

Estimated Value: US$4 million

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About: Benitoite is a rare blue barium titanium cyclosilicate, found in hydrothermally

altered serpentinite. It forms in low temperature, high pressure environments typical of
subduction zones at convergent plate boundaries.
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z 7. Opal

Discovered: 1890

Color: Blue, White, Green,

Black, Yellow, Pink, Red, Purple,
Grey, Brown, Orange

Specific Gravity: 2.15

Estimated Value: US$8 million

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About: Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica; its water content may range from 3 to
21% by weight but is usually between 6 and 10%. Because of its amorphous character, it is
classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals.