Material
Family
& common name
|
Colours
|
Comments
|
| APATITE |
almost
all
colours |
cuts
bright clean stones but they are brittle and heat sensitive |
| BERYLS
|
|
|
light
blue to
deep blue
and blue green |
once
very popular, reasonable cost, except large deep blue stone.
Many stones heat treated
to get colour depth |
|
|
light
green to
blue green |
good
clean stones of the blue green colour are most rare and very
expensive. Poor stones with inclusions called "garden"
are sold as desirable when in fact they are not.
Some jewellers boil flawed and cracked emeralds in coloured
fat or oil to hide inclusions and deepen colour.
Cultured emeralds of good colour are also available. |
|
|
pink,
salmon or peach |
not
well known but a very nice reasonably priced stone |
|
|
pale
yellow to deep yellow/orange |
as
above |
|
|
bright
green |
It
is the same family (Beryl), often the same colour as emerald
and sold as emerald, but it is not. |
| CORUNDUM
|
|
|
pale
red to bright red to blackish red |
The
ultimate colour of a ruby is the bright red called "pigeon
blood". It is rare and very expensive. Pink sapphires
are heat treated to deepen colour to classify as a ruby. |
|
|
bright
blue, sky blue, royal blue, cornflower blue, yellow orange,
green and white |
The
most popular colour is the royal blue and "cornflower
blue", but these stones can get very expensive One of
the most expensive of the sapphire colours is the yellow/orange
called "padparadicha". |
| DIAMOND |
white,
blue, green, yellow, red |
White
diamonds are very common except good clean stones over 2 -
3 carats. Advertising has overrated the value of diamonds.
Colored diamonds are becoming more popular, however they are
rare and as such more expensive. The most rare of the coloured
diamonds is the ruby red diamond.
Cultured diamonds are now coming onto the market. |
| CHRYSOBERYL |
many
colours |
other
than the Alexandrite are not well known to the market. |
|
|
colour
change from various reds to various greens |
Other
than some diamonds or emeralds, the alexandrite can lay claim
to being one of the most expensive stones. It changes colour
from red in incandescent light to green in daylight. Good
stones over one carat are very rare, but there are already
cultured stones in the market . |
| GARNET |
many
colours |
commonly
thought to be only the inky red as in antique jewellery |
|
|
Red,
orange red, violet red |
|
|
|
Yellow
green / green |
The
rare and expensive demantoid garnet, a fine pea green comes
from this group |
|
|
yellow,
various shades of green |
The
family from which the rare and expensive Tsavorite
garnet comes from - because of the colour sometimes confused
with African Emerald |
|
|
red,
dark red and orange red |
|
|
|
reddish
orange and reddish brown |
|
|
|
purple
red |
A
popular garnet, and a cross between Pyrope and Almandine |
| OPAL |
White,
gray and Black |
The
white opal is well known and stones can display faint flashes
of colour to a bright kaleidoscope of a single colour to many
The
gray or black based are more rare and more expensive and
as colour display increases so does the price.
|
|
|
Yellow
through orange, orange and red |
These
are faceted stones that have a flash (fire) come from within
the stone. A very soft stone, not recommended for rings |
| PERIDET |
pale
green to a fine grass green |
a
reasonably priced stone that has not been popular in recent
years |
| QUARTZ |
green,
gold, purple, rose, yellow, white |
Most
of the various colours are not known by a special name |
|
|
pale
lavender to deep purple, |
|
|
|
pale
yellow to whiskey yellow |
|
|
|
medium
pale green |
a
translucent stone cut as a cab or head and can resemble fine
jade |
| TOPAZ |
White,
yellow, blue, gold, orange |
Natural
blue and yellow are popular and reasonably priced. Unfortunately,
the blue gets confused with artificially coloured stones |
|
|
Yellow
/ orange |
this
is a deep honey colour that fires pink to red on its edges |
|
|
light
blue |
White,
artificially coloured |
|
|
dark
blue |
White,
artificially coloured |
| TOURMALINE |
Many
colours, white, black, blue, green, pink, red |
Most
stones are reasonably priced, however large stone in red (rubellite)
and chrome green can be rare and expensive |
|
|
Red-White-Green,
Red-Green |
These
gems have two or three distinct colours in the stone. Large
clean stones are rare and expensive. |
| ZIRCON |
all
colours, white, yellow, orange, pink, blue, green and red |
A
very bright stone that when properly cut can rival a diamond.
The most common colours are white and blue. Note the stone
is brittle and edges chip easily |
| ZOISITE
|
|
|
violet
blue |
Only
recently it is legitimately treated to create colour. The
colour is unusual and deeply coloured stones are rare and
expensive |
