Best Gems For Crystalariums, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• In
  Stardew Valley
  , Crystalariums are a great way to reproduce profitable and useful gems.
• Star Shards have a great selling price but limited uses, making them less versatile.
• Ruby can be traded for Spicy Eel and has a high selling price, making it a great option for Crystalariums.

In Stardew Valley, a Crystalarium can be used to duplicate certain gems and can be crafted using 99 Stone, 5 Gold Bar, 2 Iridium Bar, and 1 Battery Pack. The recipe for Crystalariums is acquired at Mining Level 9, but players can receive a Crystalarium as a reward before then for completing the 25,000g Bundle in the Community Center, or for donating 50 items to the Valley Museum.

These machines are highly effective for producing a variety of profitable, valuable, and giftable gemstones. This list ranks the best gems for Crystalariums based on their usefulness, selling price, and production time, allowing players to make informed decisions on gem reproduction.

It is highly recommended that players choose the Gemologist Profession when aiming to profit from gems, as it boosts their selling price by 30%.

10 Neptunite

Good Price And Can Be Used As Dye

• Selling Price: 420g, 520g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 3 Days, 11 Hours, 20 Seconds
• Gold Per Day: 115.2g

Neptunite is a mineral found in Magma Geode and Omni Geode that can be donated to the Valley’s museum. It can also drop from slain Black Slimes in the Slime Hutch at a 5% chance, along with Bixite (another donatable mineral).

With a high selling price and a strong gold per day value, Neptunite is a decent choice to place inside Crystalariums. The mineral can also be used for black dye in a Sewing Machine, making it fairly versatile compared to other donatable minerals.

9 Helvite

Profitable And Creates A Unique Clothing Item

• Selling Price: 450g, 585g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 3 Days, 11 Hours, 20 Seconds
• Gold Per Day: 129.6g

Found in Magma Geode and Omni Geode, Helvite is a liked gift for the Wizard and can be used as red dye in a Sewing Machine. It can also be crafted into the Classy Top, a clothing item that varies depending on a player’s gender selection.

Helvite has a high selling price and is a better option than Neptunite based on the gold per day value.

8 Star Shards

A High Selling Price

• Selling Price: 500g, 650g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 3 Days, 11 Hours, 20 Seconds
• Gold Per Day: 144g

Star Shards have the second-highest selling price of all the gems that can be placed inside a Crystalarium. However, it ranks lower due to its limited usefulness beyond generating profit.

Its only other notable uses are as a liked gift for the Wizard and its use in the Sewing Machine, where it creates the unique Star Shirt. Additionally, it can be used as red dye in the sewing machine. Four Star Shards (along with one Cloth) are needed to make a Star Shirt and dye it completely red.

7 Amethyst

A Liked Gift For Almost All Villagers

• Selling Price: 100g, 130g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 22 Hours, 40 Seconds
• Gold Per Day: 105.9g

Amethyst has a significantly lower selling price than the previous entries on this list, but its usefulness and quick production make it generally a better option for players. This gemstone is a loved gift for Abigail, Emily, Clint, and the Dwarf and is liked by all the villagers except Pierre, Leah, and Linus.

When improving a melee weapon in the Volcano Forge, an Amethyst can be used to increase the weapon’s knockback, meaning monsters will recoil further away once hit. Moreover, an Amethyst can appear as part of the Help Wanted requests on the board outside Pierre’s.

6 Aquamarine

Useful In The Forge

• Selling Price: 180g, 234g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 1 Day, 13 Hours, 20 Seconds
• Gold Per Day: 115.7g

Loved by Clint, Emily, and the Dwarf, Aquamarine can be used in a variety of ways. With a slightly better selling price than Amethyst, Aquamarine is a good option for Crystalariums in the early game, as they are not too hard to find and can generate a great profit.

At the Forge in the Volcano, an Aquamarine can be used to increase the critical hit chance on a melee weapon, making it more likely that the weapon will deal additional damage to enemies. It is also necessary in the Marble Brazier crafting recipe.

5 Fire Quartz

Great For Bulk Gifting

• Selling Price: 100g, 130g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 21 Hours, 40 Seconds
• Gold Per Day: 110.8g

Fire Quartz has a decent gold per day value, as one can be crafted within one in-game day. It is also a liked gift by all the villagers except Leah, Linus, and Pierre, making it an excellent choice to have in bulk for gifting throughout the valley.

It can be smelted in a Furnace with one Coal to make 3 Refined Quartz, an essential item for crafting Quality Sprinkler. When aiming for perfection, Fire Quartz is an essential item as it must be given to the museum. It is also used for crafting both the Slime Egg-Press and the Dehydrator.

4 Emerald

Use In The Forge Or Sell For A Good Price

• Selling Price: 250g, 325g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 2 Days, 2 Hours
• Gold Per Day: 120g

An Emerald can be used in the Volcano Forge to increase the speed of a melee weapon, which means attacks and recovery times will be faster. Each point of weapon speed reduces hit time by 40 milliseconds, meaning three Emeralds would reduce the hit time by 120 milliseconds.

Emerald is a liked gift by all except Leah, Linus, and Pierre, and is loved by Penny, Clint, Emily, and the Dwarf. Its high selling price and good gold per day value make it a solid choice to reproduce in Crystalariums.

3 Ruby

Trade For Spicy Eel At The Desert Trader

• Selling Price: 250g, 325g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 2 Days, 2 Hours
• Gold Per Day: 120g

Ruby both has an excellent selling price and is highly useful. It can be traded at the Desert Trader for a Spicy Eel. This food item provides +1 luck and +1 speed, which is highly valuable when mining in the Skull Cavern.

Furthermore, when used in the Volcano Forge, it can increase attack on a melee weapon. It is a liked or loved gift for all villagers except Linus, Leah, and Pierre but can be requested by anyone as part of a Help Wanted quest.

2 Jade

Good For A Journey Into The Skull Cavern

• Selling Price: 200g, 260g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 1 Day, 16 Hours
• Gold Per Day: 120g

With a relatively short crafting time, a multitude of uses, and a high selling price, Jade is a great option to place in Crystalariums. It is a great giftable item, loved or liked by nearly all villagers, and can also be used as green dye in the Sewing Machine.

Its most valuable use, however, is trading at the Desert Trader on Sundays for Staircase, which can help with reaching floor 100 in the Skull Cavern. Where they would usually require 99 Stone to craft, the Desert Trader accepts one Jade per Staircase, which is a worthy investment.

1 Diamond

The Highest Selling Price And Most Useful Gem

• Selling Price: 750g, 974g with Gemologist Profession
• Time To Craft: 5 Days
• Gold Per Day: 150g

Paired with its incredibly high selling price, Diamond has the most uses of all gems available for reproduction through Crystalariums. It is required for several useful crafting recipes, such as the Ring of Yoba, Geode Crusher, and Fairy Dust. Additionally, it can be requested on the Help Wanted board, offering players a reward of 2,250g and 150 friendship points with the requester. Diamond is a loved gift by Evelyn, Gus, Jodi, Krobus, Marnie, Maru, Penny, and Willy, making it an excellent choice for gifting.

As of Stardew Valley‘s 1.6 update, 10 Diamonds can be exchanged for The Diamond Hunter Book at the Volcano. After reading this book, all stones broken with a pickaxe have a 0.66% chance of dropping a Diamond. This item becomes much more accessible if players are already reproducing Diamonds in a Crystalarium, as it takes just 50 days (less than half an in-game year) for a single Crystalarium to produce 10 Diamonds, giving players plenty of time to work towards unlocking Ginger Island.