Painite (ultra rare)

Item Description

There are a few gems that are in the top tier in terms of desirability of rare gems. Some of those stones include Phosphophyllite, Grandidierite, Taaffeite (Magnesiotaaffeite), Poudretteite, Benitoite, etc., but Painite is certainly in the top tier of rare gems. It was named after its discoverer, British gemologist Arthur Charles Davy Pain. Believe it or not, the Guinness Book of World Records has described Painite as THE rarest gem mineral. Discovered in Burma in the early 1950's, from 1956 until 1979 only three crystals of this hexagonal mineral were known to exist! Several years ago in Myanmar, there was a significant discovery of this super rare gem. This discovery was the result of years of laborious detective work, long days of digging and mining the few hills and sorting each and every crystal and fragment by hand. Chemically, Painite is CaZrBAl9O18. However, it also contains minor amounts of chromium and vanadium and traces of iron that contribute to the orange-red to brownish-red color of the mineral. This particular gem, is a nice cognac brown color "Round" cut stone. It is very difficult to find stones with good transparency and rich color. Most gems are almost too dark to see any color and appear "black". The color shows up in this stone when strongly backlit. Also, the majority of cut Painites are less than 1/4 carat, so this stone is not small by Painite standards! There are some very flaws in this gem, but the color is good and this is extremely rare material. Keep in mind that because of the tremendous rarity of this material, Painite is now legitimately retailing for $4,000-$5,000 per carat. It's important to note that we won't see any gems for a while from Myanmar, as the mining in Mogok has been shut down due to civil unrest and the pandemic of the last few years. Additionally the mineral market in Mogok has been abandoned, so nothing is available for sale. If/when the market reopens, you can rest assured that the prices for stones will be sky-high in order to recover lost money from the last few years, so buy these stones now while they're available and not terribly expensive.