Rare and unusual crystals
Plus some of my favourites
I’m being very indulgent here, showing you some of my favourite crystals. But before I do…….
According to Wikipedia there are over 300 crystals that are classified as gemstones and there is no way that I’m going to list them all here.
Geology.com is also a fascinating web site with so much information on the crystals chemical composition.
I’ve already listed some on the crystals page and will be listing some more on this page.
If you were to do a web search on the most expensive crystals/gemstones Diamonds usually come out on top, especially when black, red pink or blue. Emerald comes next followed by Sapphire and then Ruby.
These are all very well known but when it comes to the rarest crystals you may find some names you haven’t come across before.
Here’s a list of some of them.
Poudretteite – KNa2B3Si12O30 – Hexagonal – Mohs scale 5
Tanzanite – (Ca2Al3(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH)) + (Cr,Sr) – Orthorhombic -Mohs scale 6.5 (One of my favorites)
Benitoite – BaTiSi3O9 – Hexagonal – Mohs scale 6 – 6.5
Grandidiente – (Mg,Fe2+)Al3(BO3)(SiO4)O2 – Orthorhombic – Mohs scale 7.5
Red Beryl -Be3Al2Si6O18 with trace manganese – Hexagonal – Mohs scale 7.5 – 8
Jadeite – NaAlSi2O6 or Na(Al,Fe3+)Si2O6 – Monoclinic – Mohs scale 6.5 – 7
Black Opal – SiO₂·nH₂O – Mineraloid – Mohs 5.5 – 6
Taaffeite – BeMgAl4O8 – Hexagonal – Mohs scale 8 – 8.5
Alexandrite – BeAl2O4 – Mohs scale 8.5
Painite – CaZrAl9O15(BO3) – Hexagonal – Mohs scale 8
And now - some of my favourites that are in my collection- in no particular order
