Introducing Grandidierite, One of the World’s Rarest Stones

The world of gemstones is filled with color, splendor, allure, and mystery. Among such glorious beauties, a few are rare to find and are a delight to own. One such gem is grandidierite. Are you ready to uncover some fascinating facts about this mesmerizing gem?

Discovery

Considered to be one of the rarest gemstones in the world, grandidierite is a greenish-blue stone that was first discovered in Madagascar in 1902 by Alfred Lacroix. Named after a famous French explorer and geographer, Alfred Grandidier, this alluring gemstone is magnesium aluminum borosilicate. After its exciting discovery, a considerable deposit of facetable, eye-clean mineral was found in Sri Lanka in 2003. However, the find was small, only containing stones around a third of a carat. Being extremely rare to find eye clean and transparent specimens, it has been about 14 years since a gem quality grandidierite was found, resulting in limited quantity available in the market. Stones more than two carats in weight are extremely rare, hence large faceted gems demand very high premiums. Due to its rarity, grandidierite can be an expensive gemstone. In 2003, in the Spring issue of "Gems & Gemology," the Gemological Institute of America revealed the first-known transparent grandidierite gemstone from Sri Lanka.

Color and Allure

This stunning gemstone is trichroic in nature with an appearance of blue, green and white in polarized light. The presence of iron creates its distinctive color. Gems with highly saturated neon hues are considered to be highly valuable as it enhances the color and appearance of the stone. This all-natural gemstone is not treated in any way. It is not only a collector’s pleasure, but also a great one to wear in jewelry! Grandidierite ranks 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. With fair toughness, this is a durable stone, grandidierite makes a perfect jewel for everyday wear.

Metaphysical Properties