Painite is a very rare borate mineral. It was first found in Myanmar by British mineralogist and gem Ԁєɑłer Arthur C.D. Pain who misidentified it as ruby, until it was discovered as a new gemstone in the 1950s. When it was confirmed as a new mineral species, the mineral was named after him. Due to its rarity, painite can cost in the range of between US$50,000 to $60,000 per carat.
Humans have adorned themselves and their belongings with attractive stones since prehistoric times. We’ve used fossil materials such as jet and amber, colourful rocks such as lapis lazuli, and water-clear single crystals of minerals such as amethyst and golden citrine.
The “precious stones” diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald are distinguished from the remaining “semiprecious stones” largely on the basis of perceived rarity in classical times.
But what makes a stone a gem? It boils down to a few key qualities – beauty and durability. And rarity makes a gem even more special, as is the case for my favourite: painite.
Tough beauty
Any stone may become a gem if it has beauty (in the eyes of enough beholders) and is durable enough to retain that beauty thɾօυɢҺ everyday wear.
Durability usually implies that the stone is hard enough to resist abrasion from airborne sand and dust. Also, that it does not easily fracture or “cleave” on flat ρłɑɴes of weakness (determined by its atomic arrangement).
Diamond, the hardest known material, certainly satisfies the abrasion criterion. A diamond crystal does have four orientations of cleavage ρłɑɴe on which it can be split easily. But for diamonds, this apparent liability can be turned into an asset.
The cleavage is used as a short cut in the early stages of shaping, cutting and polishing this extraordinarily hard material, which is otherwise a slow and painstaking business.
The four Cs
Demand drives the value of gemstones as commercial items, and this in turn is a function of fashion and name recognition.
However, the main valuation criteria for gems such as diamonds are often summarised as “the four Cs”: carats, colour, clarity and cut.
The rare gem painite
Although diamonds are still the popular epitome of preciousness, they are far from the rarest minerals to have been used as gems.
As a mineralogist, my favourite amongst these ultra-rare stones comes from the gem gravels of the Mogok region in Myanmar. There, sapphires, rubies, spinels and other gemstones accumulate in river beds after washing down from the surrounding forested hills. These have been mined since ancient times.
