A Primer on Colored Gems

A Primer on Buying Colored Gems

Are you aware most gems come in colors? Most stones occur in a range of hues – a blue or pink diamond, a smoky or a blue topaz, and rubies vary in shade from orange-red to blue-red. Blue sapphires? Of course, but they also come in pink and yellow. Royal families have used colored gemstones as the preferred engagement gift throughout history.

I think I prefer diamonds in their clear color but I would like to see some blue and pink diamonds. I do not care for yellow diamonds. Tanzanites to me are extremely beautiful. I have one and the color ranges from a deep royal blue to a deep purple depending on the light and the color of the clothes I wear. I also love emeralds and sapphires.

If you’re selecting a ring or bracelet, be careful with both emerald and zircon stones because they are very brittle and chip quite easily. Peridot is a fairly soft stone and scratches easily. When using these gems, you’ll want the setting of the ring designed so as to avoid scratching and chipping easily. If they’re used in a bracelet you might avoid wearing the bracelet when you’ll be very active and could easily damage it.

Aquamarine is a blue stone and one that comes in several shades of blue from a pale blue to a deep blue sapphire color. It has been rumored that this stone was given to the mermaids by Neptune, King of Sea. And the colors of a Blue Topaz range from a pastel blue color to dark blue to a blue green shade. Sapphires come in shades of cornflower blue to an inky blue. To the ancients this gem symbolized the heavens and was thought to empower the wearer with innocence and good health. Diamonds come in all shades of blue.

There are a couple more blue stones not quite as well known. The Chalcedony is a smoky to milky blue gem. The Tourmaline of the Indicolite variety is a green blue or an inky blue and the Paraiba variety ranges from an intense blue to violet blue to green blue.

Garnets are a red stone and also come in a rainbow of hues. The Rhodolite and Almandine varieties range from violet to true red and the Pyrone is brown red to red and the Spessartite variety ranges from an orange red to a brown red. Garnets derived their name from the ancient Greeks because it reminded them of a pomegranate seed, a “granatum.” Historical legend says that Noah used the inner fire of a garnet as the lamp on his bow as he cast out onto the waters.

Ruby is the stone celebrated in the Bible and in Sanskrit writings as the “gem of all gems…surpassing all other precious stones in virtue.” Its color ranges from blue red to orange red. The ruby has always been associated with fire and passion. Red diamonds also come in a rainbow of reds. Rubellites are red to a violet red and the spinel range from red to a brown red. Spinel also comes in a gray violet to pure violet and in orange to brown shades.

The amethyst varies in shade from a lilac to violet to red purple to brown purple. Ancient Romans wore this stone as a talisman to ward off the temptations of Bacchus, the Greek God of Wine. A kunzite comes in shades of pink violet ranging to red violet and the pink tourmaline comes in pink or rose. Rose Quartz ranges from a pale pink to a deep rich pink and the morganite comes in shades of pink to orange pink. Diamonds, and topaz also come in pink and pink sapphires come in shades from violet to purple.

There are also lots of stones that come in all shades of green beside the well known emerald. The emerald ranges in color from yellow green to a blue green and was a favorite gem of Cleopatra. It is considered to be an amulet of good fortune. Green sapphires range in color from yellow green to blue green to a grayish green and tourmaline comes in all shades of green. The Tsavorite garnet is yellow green to blue green and the Demantoid variety is yellow green to an emerald green. The alexandrite comes in bluish to blue green in the daylight but artificial light will turn it to a violet red. And, diamonds also come in green, from a blue green to a yellow green to gray green.

Topaz was popular with 18th and 19th century Russian tsarinas and come in brown orange shades to yellow orange to pink orange. Citrine is a yellow to yellow brown color and the Grossularite variety of garnet is a yellow to yellow green or brown shade. Tourmaline can come in orange brown to yellow orange shades and the beryl is a golden yellow color. Sapphires come in yellow also and a yellow diamond can range in shade from yellow to brown orange.

There are also a few brown and black stones. The smoky quartz comes in shades of brown to gray and the Spessartite is a brown red colored stone. Spinels also come in shades of brown to orange and there are black diamonds.

Truly, there is a precious stone for you in any color and any budget.