Dilithium crystal
The dilithium crystal is the most valuable gem in NetHack, with a base value of 4500 zorkmids, 500 more than a diamond. It is white and relatively soft (i.e., it cannot be used to engrave on the ground).
Generation
Dilithium crystals generally do not appear in the main branch of the dungeon until you have reached at least dungeon level 27, though they can be found with many other gems in the Gnomish Mines.
Variants
In variants that include gem alchemy (SLASH'EM and dNetHack), the dilithium crystal is the only valuable gem that does not turn a potion of acid into another potion when dipped into it - instead, it explodes.
In theory, this could be used to identify dilithium crystals or potions of acid, but it would be highly impractical due to destroying the crystal in the process; furthermore, by the time you start seeing dilithium crystals, you will probably have encountered potions of acid and recognized them (for example, having them thrown at you by a monster).
Origin
Dilithium is an important fictional mineral from Star Trek.
Encyclopedia entry
The most famous and the first to be named of the imaginary "minerals" of Star Trek is dilithium. ... Because of this mineral's central role in the storyline, a whole mythology surrounds it. It is, however, a naturally occurring substance within the mythology, as there are various episodes that make reference to the mining of dilithium deposits. ... This name itself is imaginary and gives no real information on the structure or make-up of this substance other than that this version of the name implies a lithium and iron-bearing aluminosilicate of some sort. That said, the real mineral that most closely matches the descriptive elements of this name is ferroholmquistite which is a dilithium triferrodiallosilicate. If one goes on the premise that nature follows certain general norms, then one could extrapolate that dilithium might have a similar number of silicon atoms in its structure.
Keeping seven (i.e. hepto) ferrous irons and balancing the oxygens would give a theoretical formula of Li2Fe7Al2Si8O27. A mineral with this composition could theoretically exist, although it is doubtful that it would possess the more fantastic properties ascribed to dilithium.
