Whats the hottest of the hot? I get asked all of the time which gemstones should I collect? A lot of collectors are drawn to one certian gem stone type and yet some are drawn to all.  Which are the hottest collector investment stones going for your money today? There are several! Here's a hint on what to look for when investing for long term.

TANZANITE - This is the top stone on the list. Is it rare, maybe, the market is flooded with many shades of Tanzanite and there is a ton of it out on the market. If you are looking for that true collectors Tanzanite choose D block goods! Stay away from the lighter and smaller stones as they will never be worth more than what you paid for them. Choose instead the navy colored goods with just the slightest overtones of violet. Red flashing or pink flashing is also a huge plus! These goods are now retailing for as much as 1200.00 per ct, a year from now it will be at least 2000.00 per ct. Continue to look towards long term gains with this stone. As time goes on smart investors will start looking towards the fancy colored Tanzanites. Pinks, yellows, greens and the mixed colors will start to gain in popularity and the prices will also skyrocket. I have told my customers this for the past couple years. Recently  a good customer and friend of mine was watching DSNTV in California, they were selling fancy colored Tanzanites and remarked that they are very rare and were expected to gain popualrity and price in the market place soon. Do you remember when colored diamond were thought of as junk? Look at what they sell for today!

BIXBITE / RED BERYL - This is an oldy but certianly not moldy. Said to be the rarest stone known to man. It is also said that only sixty pounds of this material has ever been cut into faceted gems. The average size is less than 1/4 ct. Look for stop light red for color and as clear as you can find. This material is very included. This material can sell for as much as $100,000.00 per carat for a deep red and clean stone. If you can snag one even at 20 points (1/5 of a carat) do so, they continue to gain in value.

PARAIBA TOURMALINE - Brazil, Nigerian and Mozambique. Years back the Copper Bearing Paraiba material from Brazil sold for just a few hundred dollars per carat, who would have ever thought that the small find would soon run dry and the price of that stunning material would skyrocket? Years later there was a second find, Nigeria was the source and the Gem World was happy again.....that is for a moment! The Nigerian find was glorious in color and thought to be plentiful, right up until 8 months later when the mine was declared depleted. What sold just over one year ago for 500.00 - 600.00 per carat is now selling for 1800.00 and better in the retail world. Expect to see continual increases in this material as well. Remember that the signature of the material from Mozambique should contain red needles visable to the eye. These needles or straw like inclusions  are filled with copper that never finished melting into the material, kind of like unstirred paint. This is proof in itself that the material is from Mozambique. Recently we have heard that there are problems at the mine and the material coming from this colorful find has quickly become less and less. Could this be history repeating itself for a third time? If it were me I wouldn't be caught empty handed this time around. Should the mine exhaust the price will near record figures soon.

DEMANTOID GARNET - Killer stone to collect, they are becoming rare to find in sizes larger than 2 carats. Buy at least one and put it away, forget you have it for a couple years and watch what happens to the price.

T'SAVORITE GARNET - Christmas green in color and please except nothing less. The bigger the better and try to avoid checker top cut stones, stay with the classics as this is a great long term investment.

ANDESINE / LABRADORITE - Yikes! What an awsome stone this one is, if you own the true green or cherry red. Don't fool with the color shift or mixed color stones. Consider yourself blessed if you can find one for under $100.00 per carat. Consider purchasing these as a long term investment as they climb daily in price but it's a slow climb. 5 years from now you have a stone that will be worth something. From time to time I am able to locate some very nice cherry red stones for considerbly less than the market price. I like to see slight silking in the stone that is only visable when held directly to a light bulb, a natural inclusion that is acceptable as native to the stone by GIA terms.