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Gemstone Glossary
Lime
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Pink |
Orange
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Blue |
Green
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Red |
Purple
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Yellow
LIME
PERIDOT Lively shades of yellow-green that
energize and illuminate.
Pakistani The finest available; crisp,
bright clean material. Available in large sizes. Supply
is dwindling and prices continue to rise.
Chinese Lovely brilliant lime; slightly
included in larger sizes. Not as intensely colored as
the Pakistani material, but more available and
significantly lower in price.
TOURMALINE
A shade of lime is more earthy
and less electric. Beautiful and more like the newly
budding spring leaves.
PINK
Corundum
SAPPHIRE The most prized of pink gems. Varying
shades from soft pink to fuchsia and tones of peach. A
fabulous gem treasured by many, especially in large
sizes and a great soft accent to other colors in small
sizes. A color that signifies love and tugs on your
heart strings. From electric to soft, theres a shade
for everyone. Just be wary of stones that have
undergone diffusion treatments.
Madagascar Has dominated the
market for a few years. Larger sizes are more rare
and more collectible. There a great many colors and shades
available.
Ceylon Lovely material
available in a variety of shades.
TOURMALINE
Brazilian Most of the pinks from this
locale are more of a dusty rose color. Peachy tones are
also available, but they are more earthy in tone than
electric. Some bright pinks and crisper colors are
available but theyre not very plentiful.
Nigerian Bold and dynamic.
Hot pink to bright fuchsia its some of the best pink
tourmaline ever. Clean material was readily available a
few years ago but is now in short supply. The supply
coming from the mine is very limited. These stones can
be included so clean material is rare.
MORGANITE A member of the Beryl family that is
a soft pastel pink, subtle shade that is very feminine.
Available in large sizes and not very pricy.
RHODOLITE GARNET Purplish pink in medium tones
of raspberry; There is more red in this shade of pink.
It is just barely on the pink side. A great accessory
color with all pinks that have a touch of purple and it
is an economical stone that has an exotic look.
ORANGE
TOPAZ From Brazil. Called "Imperial Topaz,"
in this lovely peachy shade of golden orange. Often
available in a pastel color, the finest is a fiery
(gorgeous) orange-ish pink. It is not an abundant gem
in fine quality.
FIRE OPAL
Mexican Intense,
stimulating, bright, electric neon orange. This gem
ranges from tangerine to cherry red. The best of this
variety is from this source.
Brazilian The same color
range as the Mexican material but somewhat "sleepy."
The cost of this material is lower than the Mexican
variety.
SAPPHIRE The rare peachy shade of orange
sapphire is called "Padparadcha," and it means lotus
flower. It is a beautiful, soothing and graceful color.
Sapphire is also available in other shades of orange red
and tangerine hues. Sapphires in orange tones are
beautiful in any shade.
CITRINE
Golden The color of
sunshine, golden citrine looks great with earth tones
and is readily available even in large sizes. Great
fancy cuts are available making this an inexpensive
stone with a very rich look.
Madeira The finest quality
of Citrine and a more rare variety. The deep rich tones
take on shades of orange red and brown. It changes hues
depending on the color clothing it is worn with. Elegant
and earthy.
BLUE
TANZANITE- Bluish-purple or purplish-blue, it is
a "pleochroic" gem meaning you can see two colors at the
same time. The finest and rarest are the large blue gems
that resemble fine Ceylon sapphire. Still, of fine
quality and and quite beautiful is the purplish-blue
periwinkle colored material. The light purple material
is the "commercial" or lowest grade. It is the most
commonly available. A mining disaster caused the price
of material to rise a few years ago. Then the rumor of
money laundering by the Al Quaida caused the price to
drop. Now the price has gone back up and continues to
rise due to the gems popularity and its limited
availability. There are pricing controls because
Tanzania is the only current source.
AQUAMARINE Cool soothing pastel blue. The
finest shade of aqua is a medium blue hue and is not
actually the pale shade of blue most associated with
aqua. The most popular shade exhibits a strong blue
tone, but in a soft pastel color and without green
undertones. That hue is very lovely and much lower in
price than the aforementioned color. It is a subtle
shade of pastel greenish-blue and is a lovely feminine
shade.
BLUE TOPAZ The least expensive blue gemstone.
It can range from a very pale slightly bluish shade to
sky blue to a very intense blue (called London Blue) to
a medium pastel blue. Blue topaz is an irradiated color
enhanced stone.
SAPPHIRE The finest of the cobalt blue
gemstones available today is Burmese. It is rare,
beautiful and expensive. Ceylon or Madagascar material
can range in shades from dark to light. The most prized
is a rich regal cobalt. It is a bright blue, very clean
and intense shade...it is the essence of majesty. There
are some lovely pastel shades of varying tones. Some of
the periwinkle shades are very beautiful and some of the
colors are the "hot" fashions today. The large sizes
have become more scarce and that has pushed prices up in
the fine quality material. The material from Ceylon and
Madagascar is so similar it is difficult to distinguish
one from the other. Prices for like qualities seem to
be the same. Some of the varying shades of blues are
blue-green, purplish-blue and violet-blue and ranging
hues from pastel to intense. A fine stone in any shade
or hue is always beautiful.
Thai sapphire A lovely midnight blue.
More plentiful in large sizes and much lower in price
than Ceylon. Still nice in dark shades that dont appear
black and show a blue body color.
Kanchantaburi
Rich, royal blue, warm
and beautiful. Less intense than the Ceylon material,
but brighter tones than some other Thai or Australian
varieties.
INDICOLITE TOURMALINE Though rare there is a
very blue variety of tourmaline with hardly a hint of a
greenish tone. It is in very short supply and is found
mostly in Brazil. Blue green indicolite is not a common
color in clear bright pieces. There is more material
available in a dark variety that looks somewhat
blackish. The fine quality is available in large sizes
and is somewhat difficult to match. The color is rich,
warm and gorgeous.
TURQUOISE
BLUE ZIRCON - Blue with a hint of a greenish
tone. Dispersive , fiery and brilliant, it is a stone
that is very showy and has a higher refractive index
than diamond (more sparkle). The color of the finest
can be quite intense and rich. It is very beautiful and
more rare in large sizes.
TURQUOISE - Transparent
TOURMALINE
Pariaba Brazilian. Believed
to be the most neon gemstone in existence. It has the
turquoise essence from a peacock feather or a butterfly
wing with positively electric color. It has never been
plentiful and has continued to rise dramatically in
price since its discovery.
Copperian- Mostly found in
Africa, It actually has copper in its chemical makeup.
Wow! What a color! It resembles its rare, expensive neon
cousin, Pariaba. The copperian variety looks like deep
pools of Caribbean water glistening in the sun. It is
expensive and rare, it is not as expensive and rare as
pariaba.
BERYL A cousin to emerald and aquamarine, it
can be an absolutely gorgeous shade of turquoise that is
very similar to the copperian tourmaline. Rare in the
more electric pastel. More available (but not plentiful)
in the pastel green.
GREEN
EMERALD Rich, vivid green. A traditional
popular gem. All sources are beautiful, but my favorite
source is Brazil. It is the greenest material with the
least blue undertones. Clean material is available and
seems to be plentiful.
Colombian
The traditional source, it has
a few more blue undertones than the Brazilian. It seems
to be readily available.
African It can range from deep dark
green to a strong blue undertone. It is lovely but Im
not seeing much material.
TOURMALINE African. The green most resembling
emerald in this gem is chrome tourmaline. The mineral
chromium gives a bright vivid look to the grassy green
gem. It's not plentiful but is available. This is a
fine, rare gem that price-wise is slightly less than an
emerald of comparable quality. It is "clean" and
therefore less prone to damage due to that lack of
inclusions.
TSAVORITE The truest green gemstone, tsavorite
is a green garnet. It is a brilliant vivid grassy green,
a truly amazing color. Rare in large sizes, and pricey
but certainly a collector gem any green lover would
covet. It is in the emerald price range in larger
sizes.
FOREST GREEN
Deep rich earthy green tourmaline with a tiny
touch of yellow. It can be very dark or a brighter
medium shade. The varying shades of tree leaves
provide a great example of the differences in the green
shades of tourmaline. Find one of those leaves you like
and there certainly is a tourmaline for you.
LIGHT PASTEL GREEN
Green beryl can be a soft, gentle,
soothing pastel without any blue hue. It is a pretty,
feminine color that looks great by itself or combined
with other pastel beryls.
TEAL
Indicolite Tourmaline Brazil or Africa.
A beautiful bluish green, clear and bright in fine
quality. Supply has been limited the last couple of
years. A great alternative to emerald, though a
different shade of green.
Sapphire Can come from any sapphire
source. Most material is blackish but it does occur on
rare occasions in a pretty teal shade and even in large
sizes. While less intense than tourmaline, it is a rich,
warm earthy color.
RED
TOURMALINE
Rubellite
Nigerian Dynamic bright fuchsia to a
warm deep red, clean material in large sizes is scarce.
The mines are producing very little. I think this
material is generally the most beautiful rubellite ever
produced in any quantity.
Brazilian Raspberry red with some
inclusions, clean material is rare. It is a more earthy
color, and is generally more subdued than the Nigerian.
GARNET
Pyrope
Arizona Chrome Pyrope The
truest red gemstone. The mineral chromium gives it an
amazing brightness. It is rare in sizes over a carat.
It has a tendency to be very dark in large sizes; the
super bright stones are very rare. The most common
source is Arizona on the Apache reservation. It is
called anthill garnet because the rough is often found
around the anthills pushed up by the ants. This is a
rich, bright fabulous red and is at last a more
appreciated gem.
African Chrome Pyrope -
Occasionally found but not as plentiful as the Arizona
variety.
Almandite The common deep red
garnet that can have brown-ish or orange-ish tones. It
can be found in locations too numerous to mention.
Almandite garnet is inexpensive, plentiful, classic,
warm and beautiful if well cut.
Rhodolite Red with purplish
overtones, dark, rich and lovely. It can also be more of
a medium tone, with a slight to strong purplish tone.
Rhodolite is found mostly in Africa and less commonly in
Brazil.
SPINEL -Lovely red shades historically
misidentified as ruby. A gem prized by collectors and
connoisseurs.
PURPLE
AMETHYST QUARTZ
Zambian Dark, rich purple with a red
secondary color, the finest amethyst available. It is
rich, bright and fabulous. Available in large sizes and
fancy cuts.
Brazilian Dark, rich with more blue
overtones in the deeper tones. Most rare from this
source. Medium and light materials are very available.
Pretty in fancy cuts and inexpensive even in large
sizes.
SAPPHIRE Purple shades can be reddish or
bluish and either is rich, bright and gorgeous. Some
purple material exhibits color change from blue in
sunlight to purple in incandescent lighting, these are
very rare and prized stones. Any of the fine colors of
sapphire is very collectible and the prices have been
climbing over the years. I adore all fine sapphire.
YELLOW
BERYL Dark golden to bright sunshine
yellow and anything in between. I love yellow beryl; it
is a bright cheerful stone that is gaining in
popularity. It is still somewhat inexpensive and
available in large sizes. The price is on the way up.
SAPPHIRE From golden to lemon yellow
this stone strongly resembles canary diamonds. It is a
fine, highly appreciated gemstone; rich and elegant in
large sizes. Not readily available in the lemon yellow,
only slightly more available in other shades.
BI-COLOR TOURMALINE - This unusual variety can
occur in many combinations. Earthy peach and bright
green is the material Ive seen in clean larger
material, it is more available but not abundant. The
pink and bluish green material tends to be the most
included and less transparent. Some other combinations
Ive seen are purple with teal, light pink with grassy
green, light and dark peach and light and dark pink.
OPAL
Black Australian Given its name because
of its black body color. Magical and mystical, it is
the rarest and most prized of opal. The most valuable
has a predominate red flash followed by many other
colors. (Harlequin flash is the rarest and has tiny
flecks of many colors in its play of color). Other fine
black opal may have a dark blue appearance with a neon
turquoise blue play of color often in a pin fire
pattern.
Crystal Opal The body of this variety is
so transparent you can read a newspaper behind it. In
the finest quality it displays many colors and holds its
play of color with no background. The lesser grades may
be enhanced by putting a black background behind it.
Milky Found in Australia and Brazil. It
has a white body color. The fine quality can have all
of the types of flash and colors with regard to play of
color. The least expensive in fine quality, it is
readily available in large sizes.
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