The rarity of precious gemstones comes down to the geologic process of their formation.
A diamond and emerald necklace once owned by Elizabeth Taylor on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2014. Worldwide, which of these precious gems is rarer? Sparkling diamonds and verdant emeralds are some of the most coveted and priciest gemstones. But which precious stones are rarer: diamonds or emeralds? In terms of total known deposits, emeralds are rarer. There are 49 emerald deposits, according to a 2019 review in the journal Minerals . In comparison, there are about 1,000 rock formations that contain diamonds, although there are only 82 operating diamond mines, according to a 2022 article in the journal Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry . But it's hard to compare numbers of diamonds with other gemstones because the industry is more established. Diamonds are produced by international mining companies with complex pricing structures and commercial partnerships to meet global demand. There are 100 million to 150 million carats , or about 22 to 33 tons (20 to 30 metric tons), of diamonds produced worldwide each year, according to Natural Resources Canada. In comparison, between 7,000 to 9,000 kilograms , or about 7 and 10 tons (6 to 9 metric tons), of emeralds were produced in 2015 from the main producing countries (Columbia, Zambia, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Brazil), according to 2022 market research data compiled by the British mining company Gemfields. Tracking the global production of any gemstone other than diamonds is difficult because mines are spread across the globe and are mined primarily by small companies that don't have strong reporting systems in…