1Blue topaz
Most blue topaz is created by taking natural topaz and exposing it to radiation, such as from a nuclear reactor, which changes its color to blue.
2Anthill Garnet
There is a type of garnet (a mineral used as a gemstone) called the "Anthill Garnet." Ants carry these gems up through their tunnels and deposit them at the top of the ground.
3Liberty Bell Ruby
The Liberty Bell Ruby is a sculpture crafted from the world's largest mined ruby, discovered in east Africa in the 1950s. It weighs 4 pounds, is eight and a half thousand carats, and is sculpted into a miniature form of the Liberty Bell. It has 50 diamonds set in it and is valued at $2 million. It was stolen in 2011 and never recovered.
4Painite
Painite is a gem mineral that is found only in Myanmar. It is so rare that until 2004 only two of them were ever cut into faceted gemstones.
5Empress of Uruguay
The biggest amethyst geode, called the "Empress of Uruguay" is 3 meters tall and weighs more than 2 tons.
6Olympic Australis
Olympic Australis is the largest opal ever found. It is valued at AUD $2,500,000. It weighs around 7.6 pounds and it consists of 99% gem opal.
7El-Dorado Topaz
The El-Dorado Topaz, which weighs a whopping 31,000 carats (6.2 kg or 13.67 lbs) currently holds the crown as the largest faceted gemstone in the world. Originally discovered in 1984 in mineral-rich Minas Gerais, Brazil, the pre-cut El-Dorado crystal tipped the scales at a mind-boggling 37 kg (81.6 lbs). It belongs to the British Royal Collection.
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8Alexandrite
There is a gemstone called Alexandrite, that will change colors, usually from green to red, based on whether it's viewed under natural or artificial light.
9Ammolite
Ammolite is an opal-like gemstone that can be found in an infinite array of colors and is one of a few known biogenic gemstones. It is formed from the fossilized shells of Ammonites (a pre-historic squid-like creature).
10Black onyx
Black onyx stones are actually never completely black. The ones you can buy in-store have instead either been treated to become much darker or are various other types of the gemstone made to look like onyx stones.
