These gemstones have been used as symbols of wealth, power and status, often associated with luxury and glamor .
The rarity and beauty of gemstones make them valuable, which can be auctioned for sky-high numbers. Investing in gems can be a smart move for those looking for a long-term investment.
There are many factors that contribute to the high value of gems, one of which is the scarcity , even some are only found in a few parts of the world. It is this scarcity that drives prices up as collectors and investors compete to acquire gems.
Another factor that can be mentioned is the quality of the stone. Gemstones are graded based on several criteria, including color, clarity, and cut. A flawless, perfectly cut gemstone with vibrant color will be much more valuable than a stone with visible impurities or dull coloration.
According to Prestige Online, the amount to buy white diamonds can be up to 15,000 USD (more than 350 million VND) per carat. But this number is only a fraction of the billions of gems below.
Gems are relatively stable in value and can be an appropriate investment portfolio amid inflation (Image: Prestige Online)
Thanks to its exquisite beauty and value, Alexandrite is becoming increasingly popular for high-end jewelry. Thanks to the unique property of being able to change color, Alexandrite is nicknamed “the emerald of the day, the ruby of the night”.
During the day, Alexandrite is blue or peacock blue. At dusk, that color turns a gorgeous purple with a tinge of red. This change occurs due to the way Alexandrite absorbs light.
Alexandrites’ prices vary according to their size. This is because large blocks are rare, leading to an exponential increase in the price. According to Rare Gem Collection and Prestige Online, the wholesale price for 1 carat Alexandrite can be as high as 20,000 USD (nearly 470 million VND) but can also go up to 70,000 USD/carat (about 1.6 billion VND).
The largest stone to date weighs 65.08 carats worth more than 4 million USD (about 94 billion VND), is currently kept at the Smithsonian Institution (the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, located in Washington, DC, United States of America).
Prosperity, royalty and wealth are the most obvious symbols of Alexandrite. This stone is also considered a stone of wisdom, change and luck. (Photo: Rare Gem Collection).
With its alluring emerald green color, it’s no surprise that emeralds are among the world’s most sought-after stones. Perfect emeralds are rare, and even high-quality emeralds are often harder to find than diamonds . Once found, emeralds can be sold for sky-high prices.
Although the quality grading systems for diamonds and emeralds are similar, the color of emeralds is given more importance than for diamonds. This means that a small but colorful emerald can be more expensive than a large, cloudy diamond.
An example for this case is the 18.04 carat Rockefeller Emerald , bought by oil billionaire John D. Rockefeller for his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Later, the stone appeared on Christie’s auction floor and was offered for a record $ 5.5 million (nearly 130 billion), equivalent to $ 305,000 (more than 7 billion dong) for a carat.
The Rockefeller is the largest and most expensive flawless emerald in the world. (Photo: Christie’s).
The color of diamonds is often a consequence of impurities. However, for red and pink diamonds, this tint comes from small defects in the lattice structure .
Primarily mined at the Argyle mine in Australia, this diamond is highly coveted for its romantic pink color. Although the cost of this type of diamond is quite high, buyers can get a friendlier price when pink diamonds are mined outside the Argyle mine.
The most expensive pink diamond sold for 57.7 million USD (more than 1.3 trillion dong) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong (China) auction in October 2022. Dubbed the “Williamson Pink Star” , this cushion-cut diamond is noted for its “fancy vibrant pink” tone and “inner perfection”.
This price makes the 11.15 carat Williamson the most expensive diamond per carat ever sold.
Williamson pink diamond. (Photo: Ali Haider, Sotheby’s)
Red is the rarest color for diamonds and because of this rarity, red diamonds easily become one of the most expensive gemstones in the world. To this day, only about 20-30 red diamonds remain, most of which weigh less than ½ carat.
The largest 5.11 carat red diamond ever sold for 8 million USD (nearly 188 billion VND), equivalent to 1.6 million USD/carat (more than 37.5 billion VND per carat).
Moussaieff Red Diamond is the largest red diamond in the world. (Photo: Diamond Buzz).
Buyers will not find a single blue diamond outside the auction floor, due to the rarity of the stone. And when information related to blue diamonds appears, collectors or investors will flock to find ownership opportunities. There are only a handful of mines in the world that produce blue diamonds , located in Australia, India and South Africa.
Blue diamonds get their color from the element boron , which displaces some of the carbon in the diamond crystal structure. While not as rare as red diamonds, blue diamonds can grow much larger than red diamonds and often sell for a higher price. And like other colored diamonds, blue diamonds get more expensive as the color and carat weight increase.
Christie’s employee looking at the 14.62 carat Oppenheimer Blue diamond. (Photo: Martial Trezzini/EPA, The Guardian).
To date, the most expensive stone on record is Oppenheimer Blue , which sold for a staggering .5 million at Christie’s in 2016. The stone weighed 14.62 carats, cut. This rectangle once belonged to the Oppenheimer family, which dominated the global diamond trade for many years.