It should come as no surprise that the April birthstone is one among today’s most valuable gems. In addition to being a gem with a Mohs hardness of 10, it has also come to represent unending love throughout time. A high-quality diamond of 1 carat starts at around $8,000 on average.
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What birthstone has the highest value?
Tanzanite, turquoise, and blue zircon are the three distinct birthstones for the month of December, making it unique among other months. The former is a lovely blue or violet stone, however it lacks the emerald’s vibrant hue. One of the most distinctive-looking gemstones, turquoise typically has its name-brand color, while it also frequently has gold, orange, and black flecks. Unsurprisingly, blue zircon also has a blue colour, though it is a little lighter than tanzanite. Furthermore, tanzanite doesn’t have a lot of mythology attached to it compared to zircon and turquoise, which are both supposed to have protective qualities and lead those who wear them to greater health, enhanced intelligence, and prosperity.
Peridot (August)
August has two main drawbacks: it’s an unbearably hot month worldwide, and its birthstone isn’t exactly fantastic. Many crystal aficionados believe that the green stone peridot, which is believed to have been one of the original jewels in Aaron’s breastplate, can reduce stress. Unfortunately, it’s not really a color that most clothing can easily match, unless it’s St. Patrick’s Day.
Citrine and Topaz (November)
Citrine is one of the least popular yellow gemstones, which explains why it is so low on the list of birthstones. Even though the color most often associated with it is yellow, the birthstone for November also occurs in tones of brown and orange. The alternative birthstone for November is topaz, which is available in a variety of hues, including blue, green, and pink. However, it also frequently has an unattractive yellow tint.
Diamond (April)
Those born in April have the double-edged sword of having diamonds designated to their birth month, making them the most expensive and valuable birthstones. Although these stones are thought to bring about love, purity, creativity, self-esteem, and strength, they are frequently quite expensive, making it difficult for you to purchase one without spending your entire paycheck. While more colorful diamonds are attractive, they aren’t as as intriguing as the more distinctive and vivid stones on the list, despite their beauty.
Are April birthstones uncommon?
The ultimate gift for a loved one is a natural diamond, which is uncommon and unique. Natural diamonds are thought to be one of the world’s hardest materials and have been around for billions of years.
What birthstone is the most uncommon?
All gemstones, especially expensive gemstones, are thought to be relatively rare, yet some birthstones are more common than others. Although some highly expensive stones are not that rare, and vice versa, price tags can be deceiving when it comes to rarity. For instance, although expensive, April’s diamond is less rare than rubies, emeralds, and alexandrite. Speaking of alexandrite, it is now the most expensive and rarest gemstone on the list of birthstones. Additionally extremely rare, black opals are.
An intriguing technique to select jewelry is by birthstone. They enable people to investigate jewels that they might otherwise avoid. However, birthstones are not always what people think they are, so make sure you are buying birthstone jewelry for the right reasons while making your selection.
Is a diamond the birthstone for April?
The hardest natural substance on Earth is a diamond, which is the birthstone for April. It is 58 times harder than any other naturally occurring substance. Giving it as an anniversary gift or as an engagement or wedding ring has long been a tradition as a symbol of enduring love. The diamond has been associated with healing for millennia, as well as clarity and harmony. Discover the significance, history, and symbolism of the diamond!
What gemstone costs more than a diamond?
A gem’s price is often determined by its carat weight. But the cost of certain gemstones varies substantially. Other factors that are taken into account when determining a gemstone’s value include color, clarity, cut, polish, size, demand, and treatments. More valuable jewels than diamonds can be found. Among them are alexandrite, sapphires, rubies, garnets, emeralds, and sapphires. But a specific kind of diamond is the most priceless gem ever discovered. Here, we examine the most expensive non-diamond gemstone in addition to the two categories of diamonds that currently hold the record for the most expensive gem by carat weight.
What shade represents April?
The diamond is the traditional and recognized birthstone for the month of April. The alternate April birthstone is any transparent stone, such as sparkling quartz, and the April birthstone is clear or white.
Zodiac birthstones include diamond for the Aries star sign (Mar 21Apr 20) and rock crystal (quartz) for the Pisces star sign (Feb 20 – Mar 20). The Sweet Pea and Daisy, which are the birthflowers for April, are additional birthday emblems.
Engagement and wedding rings typically contain diamonds, which represent passion and enduring love. They are the most popular gemstone in the world and are valued based on the four “Cs”: carat weight, clarity, color, and cut.
Diamond jewelry is a thoughtful present for a memorable birthday in April as well as for 10th, 60th, and 75th wedding anniversaries.
Watch the brief educational movies below to learn more about the background, meaning, and characteristics of diamonds and quartz.
Diamond
Both a modern and traditional birthstone are diamonds for April. The eternal love sign has endured through the ages and is still listed as the birthstone for April.
The word “diamond,” which means “unconquerable; indestructible,” is derived from the Greek word “adamas.” It takes billions of years for a diamond to develop naturally. Despite the fact that there are other things to take into account, diamonds are typically thought of as being more expensive than other jewels.
Diamond is a translucent crystalline form of carbon that is four times harder than corundum and has the same chemical make-up as corundum. It is among the world’s toughest naturally occurring materials.
Due to its high difficulty, diamond cutting demands skill and understanding. One-carat diamonds can only be created from one in a million raw diamonds. The “Golden Jubilee” now holds the record for largest cut diamond in the world. Gabriel Tolkowsky carved and polished the 755-carat rough stone. He spent two years creating the largest cut diamond in the world. Because it was given as a present to the King of Thailand for his 50th Coronation Anniversary in 1997, the diamond was given the name “Golden Jubilee.”
Along with representing love, diamonds also stand for power, tenacity, bravery, elegance, and luxury. Wearing a diamond is advantageous since it is thought to make you physically stronger. The energy that fosters mental clarity and aids in overcoming challenges and hardships in life is said to be carried by diamond. It makes sense that diamond, one of the world’s hardest materials, is also said to be a protective gemstone that shields the wearer from harm and curses. For instance, it is said that diamond can protect you from the evil eye’s curse. An unknown poet from the second century BCE stated the following regarding this particular diamond myth:
Diamond has been the most popular gem for wedding bands and engagement rings for more than 500 years. When Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, was given a diamond engagement ring by Archduke Maximilian of Austria in the year 1477, this ritual was first observed in medieval Europe. Numerous affluent people and even royalty were inspired by this. Later, as diamond became more widely available (though it was still pricey), it spread among common people.
Sapphire
The traditional April birthstone is sapphire. Because its legacy as an April gem dates back to the Renaissance era, some people refer to it as the “old April birthstone.” The fate of April borns and sapphire is entwined through decades of history, and it isn’t something you can just shake off. Today, sapphire may be better recognized as the September birthstone. Sapphire’s status as the birthstone for April was acknowledged in Tiffany’s birthstone poem from 1907 (see the beginning of this article).
Although sapphire comes in a variety of hues, blue is the most well-known. Sapphire can form in any color due to the presence of several chemical components. Other sapphire colors include yellow, purple, green, brown, violet, orange, pink, colorless, and black in addition to blue sapphires.
A corundum variant makes up the mysteriously alluring black sapphire. It comes in two different forms: semitransparent and opaque. The largest black star sapphire in the world, weighing 733 carats, was discovered in an Australian mine. A special type of sapphire called a star sapphire has a striking star pattern that appears to float on its surface. Harry Kazanjian chose to sacrifice more than 400 carats in order to preserve the star pattern on the unusual diamond when he cut it.
In contrast to its contemporary counterpart diamond, sapphire has a different significance and connotation. Although sapphires are sometimes said to offer protection to their wearers, they are more commonly associated with honesty, sincerity, intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, and dignity. Sapphire also has a spiritual significance because it was thought to represent heaven. Because of this, clerics in the Middle Ages frequently wore sapphires.
Given its favorable vibrational patterns, sapphire is a suitable gift for April babies.
What jewel will be the rarest on Earth in 2022?
The brilliant stones form over millions and billions of years, making gemstones an uncommon occurrence on this planet. The most valuable gemstones in the world are diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, out of the more than 200 varieties of gemstones known to man. However, in terms of their known amounts, certain gemstones are at least a thousand to a million times rarer than others.
It goes without saying that their worth much exceeds that of even some of the most sought-after jewels. They are all fairly uncommon in the globe because each one of them has a distinctive quality. Here are 5 of the world’s rarest jewels along with descriptions of each one’s special qualities.
Tanzanite: After being discovered for the first time in Tanzania, Africa, in 1967, tanzanite eventually found its place on the market. It was one of the few gemstones in existence to exhibit excellent trichroism, or the ability to display three different colors depending on the angle from which they are viewed. Blue, violet, and burgundy are the colors present in Tanzanite. The great scarcity of Tanzanite throughout the globe, however, is what truly makes it unique. There is only one mine in the world that produces it, and it will likely run dry in the next 30 years. The mine is around 7 km long and 2 km wide.
Red Beryl: Red Beryl, an ore of the same mineral family as emeralds and aquamarines, was found in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah. The fact that more than 95% of Red Beryl discovered each year is of poorer quality, however, is what makes the material special. There are very few gem-quality stones that are suitable for use as jewelry. However, as they are seldom faceted, these make excellent collectors’ items. One Red Beryl crystal out of every 150,000 is of gem quality.
Black Opal: Due to light diffraction and color play, opals are known to be creamy-white with an explosion of colors inside them. Opals typically come in shades of white, grey, or green. The rarest Opal, nevertheless, is the black variant, which is unique to Australia. It appears to be the Northern lights because of the dark background in the colors. About $763,000 was paid for one of the most expensive black opals ever sold.
Alexandrite: Known as Emerald by day and Ruby by night, this mineral is well-known for its propensity to change color under various lighting conditions. In that, Alexandrite exhibits a blue to green color in natural light, and a red to purple color in artificial light. The gemstone was named after Czar Alexander II, the then-next-in-line Russian Emperor, when it was found in the Ural Mountains in 1830. Given that its source in Russia was depleted within a few decades of its discovery and that it is currently only found in Brazil and a few other mines, its scarcity can be understood.
The mineral known as Painite, which also holds the Guinness World Record for being the rarest gemstone, is extremely rare. For several years following its discovery in 1951, there were only 2 examples of Painite. Less than two dozen gemstones were known as of 2004. There are less than 1,000 painite gemstones in existence, the most of which are unfaceted, despite the recent opening of two specialized mines in Myanmar.
The value of gems
Let me start by saying that you shouldn’t inquire about the price of a one-carat ruby.
One-carat rubies range in value from $10 to more than $10,000.
The gemstone’s quality is what truly distinguishes it. Often, these discrepancies in quality can only be seen when examining a variety of rubies at once. Higher quality colored rubies can cost significantly more money. Better clarity will cost more per carat just like diamonds. A better-cut ruby is always worth a little bit more. Likewise, a stone is valued more per carat the larger it is. The four C’s are used to determine prices for each type of gemstone, but color is by far the most important one.
The variety of gemstones determines price differences. Confusion and many preconceived ideas about value arise at this point.
Due to the principles of supply and demand and being more easily available, some gemstone varieties have lower costs.
Because yellow and brown stones aren’t in high demand, some kinds are less expensive than others. Sometimes it happens because the gemstone substance is delicate, and other times a stone appears to have excellent 4C ratings but no one is aware of it yet.
Numerous gemstones are less expensive than those with comparable quality. Despite being beautiful, some stones may have strange or unfamiliar names or may be confused with semi-precious stones that have a similar appearance. These unfair practices in the gem market might eventually be rectified.
Classifications of Gems
The pricing ranges for gemstones can be divided into five categories: collector gemstones, new classics, inexpensive gems, traditional gemstones, and connoisseur gems. The prices in each of these categories vary, but the same principles hold true: less well-liked stones or gems of lower quality may be less expensive, but stones of excellent quality in a certain color will probably be more expensive.
These five categories of gems outline a general guideline for pricing, with quality and color being the main determining factors.
These emerald, sapphire, and rubies are more precious than any other gemstones because of their illustrious past and enduring appeal. Due to their scarcity, rubies and emeralds typically cost more than sapphires of equivalent quality. As a result, traditional gemstones can range in price from $250 to $10,000 per carat for a one-carat stone of fair to medium grade, as opposed to much higher prices for very fine or rare gems.
Connoisseur Due to its rarity compared to other jewels, diamonds have their own niche market. These include uncommon stones like alexandrite and demantoid garnet as well as black opals, pink topaz, jadeite, chrysoberyl “cat’s eye,” and unusual hue sapphires. These gemstones are in high demand and can cost between $250 and $5,000 per carat, whereas alexandrite with a good change of color can fetch more than $10,000 for merely one carat.
Tanzanite, aquamarine, tourmaline, tsavorite garnet, and imperial topaz are some of the fashionable gemstones known as “New Classics” that may be found in jewelry collections. Although enormous quality single gems can be highly popular, these gemstones are occasionally offered in the regular sizes. For an average one-carat gemstone, New Classic gems can cost between $50 and $1,000 per carat. A new classic stone that may cost up to $3k per carat is tsavorite.
Affordable gemstones combine excellent color with a reasonable price.
Amethyst, citrine, white opal, peridot, ametrine, blue topaz, rhodolite garnet, iolite, kunzite, andalusite, and chromium diopside are a few of these, as are some old favorites and some new ones.
Numerous other gemstones, such as lapis, turquoise, laxuli, onyx, nephrite jade, amber, and chrysoprase, are more decorative.
For a one-carat stone, prices for these jewels will range from $5 to $100 per carat.
Collector’s Gems are rare gemstones that have a lot of beauty for the price yet are difficult to find. Spinel, moonstone, zircon, morganite, and several more rare gems fall under this category. Although hot pink and red spinels can cost several thousand dollars per carat, these kinds of gemstones often trade for hundreds of dollars rather than thousands.
For matched pairs, unique forms, settings, and cuts, as with all gemstonesespecially the rarer onesexpect to pay significantly more.
