Description
What is the rarest gemstone? Okay, being the rarest is pretty subjective since there are many gemstones that tend to come to mind such as; diamonds, emeralds or amethyst. But a precious stone that is even more elusive would be painite. Which is ironic because it’s a pain to find, considering it was only discovered in the early 1950s. But it was really just named after the man who discovered them, Arthur C.D. Pain, and for a while up until 2001, there had only been two other crystals found… yet eventually a source in Mogok uncovered thousands more specimens, though still hard to obtain as they are only really found in Myanmar. Either way they are scarce, which is reflective in their value, going for upwards of $60,000 per carat, which if you didn’t know like me is equivalent to 0.2 grams. And their chemical composition is made up of calcium, zirconium, boron, aluminum, and oxygen, along with traces of chromium and vanadium which helps give it its rustic red appearance. However, another gemstone worthy of an honorable mention would be Kyawthuite, which is so unknown that not even Wikipedia knows much about it. But I thought it was funny since it is also only found in Mogok, so I know where I’m going this summer with my gold panning kit.
SOURCE:
https://luxe.digital/lifestyle/jewelry/painite/
http://minerals.gps.caltech.edu/files/visible/painite/Index.html
https://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/eps2/wisc/glossary2.html#p
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/painite-jewelry-and-gemstone-information/
https://www.gia.edu/doc/WN05.pdf
IMAGE:
[1] By Gemmaterra - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6527765
[2] By Mineral Enthusiast - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131965035
[3] By Mineral Enthusiast - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131965690
[4] By Mineral Enthusiast - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131965357
[5] By Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10170172
[6] By Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10168307
[7] By Stefan Fussan, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22559591
[8] By Strickja - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9564798
[9] By DonGuennie (G-Empire The World of Gems - Die Welt der Edelsteine) - Own work http://www.g-empire.de, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37577642
[10] By Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10168302
[11] By Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10168299
[12] By Dave Bezaire - Visitors Panning for Gold, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55494092
[13] By California Institute of Technology - Kyawthuite, http://minerals.gps.caltech.edu/manuscripts/2017/Kyawthuite/index.html