5 Gemstones You’ve Never Heard Of

Jul 13

Who’s the rarest of them all?

By now, you know the cardinal gemstones—emerald, ruby, sapphire, and diamond. Also known as the “Big Four,” these precious gems are a veritable mineral Mount Rushmore, the who’s-who of fine jewelry. You’re probably also familiar with the rainbow of rocks that make up the 12 major birthstones, ranging from red garnet to lime-green peridot to pretty purple amethyst.

These well-known names may be the literal jewels of the precious-mineral world, but there is a wealth of other worthy stones that jewelers are beginning to incorporate into their designs, many with mysterious monikers (“serpentine,” “angelite”) that allude to their metaphysical meanings. We’ve unearthed a few of our new favorite gems, below.

Serpentine

First discovered in 1564, serpentine gets its name from its seemingly scaled appearance. These veins and natural variations in the stone have a hypnotic, entrancing effect (no surprise, then, that serpentine is said to promote spiritual understanding and facilitate meditation).

Angelite

This recently discovered gemstone was only just found in Peru in 1987. A variant of anhydrite, everything about this new age gem radiates ethereal allure, from its heavenly sky-blue hue to its high vibrational levels, thought to give off a peaceful, calming energy.

Spectrolite

A quick lesson in geology: 60% of the Earth’s crust is made up of a mineral called feldspar. When you figure that the planet has been estimated to weigh about 27,700,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg…well, that’s a lot of feldspar. Far less common, however, is spectrolite, a rare variety of the stone, found only in Finland. Spectrolite is similar to the more-familiar blue-grey labradorite, but showcases a full-spectrum display of colors.

Prasiolite

This extremely rare, extremely pale-green variety of quartz is only found in a few places on Earth—mostly, in a small Brazilian mine. More commonly, prasiolite is artificially created by heat-treating specific varieties of amethyst, though this tends to create a darker shade than natural pariolite’s translucently gorgeous green. (Fun fact: Translated from Greek, “prasiolite” literally means “leek-green colored stone.”)

Oregon Sunstone

Another less-common form of feldspar, Oregon sunstone contains inclusions of copper, which create a sparkling effect (called “schiller”) as though light were bursting forth from within. Known as the “stone of joy,” sunstone is meant to inspire benevolent leadership and good nature.

Wordsmith/Managing Editor: Rebecca Daly

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