Colour

Many people have a good idea of the gemstone they want to buy – a Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby,  or Tanzanite to name a few, and in general this decision is based on the colour of the stone.  As long as the stone they buy suits their purpose, most clients are less concerned with the gemstone type as long as it is the correct colour and price.

Most websites categorize their inventory by gem type and variety.  The Touchstone website is no different; however, we do have an advanced search facility where clients can search by colour, size, type, dimension, carat etc.  For those of you who would like a quick colour reference, take a look at your options below:

There are literally hundreds of colour variations in coloured gemstones.  Our list is organized by the base colours – red, blue, green, yellow and white and their colour families like orange and pink.

18 Carat "Rainbow Collection" pendant

Peridot, Citrine, Garnet, Amethyst and Diamond

Buy this pendant from INFACET

Red

Red gemstones are actually quite rare, and mainly occur in Spinel, Ruby and Garnet. There is some very fine red Tourmaline (correctly referred to as Rubellite), but deposits are small and the occurrences rare.

• Ruby
• Spinel
• Garnet
• Tourmaline
• Andesine
• Zircon

Pink

The most popular pink gemstones are Spinel and Tourmaline. Pink sapphire is lovely but large clean pieces are hard to come by. Rhodolite Garnet tends to the purple-pink (raspberry). For more about pink gemstones see our feature article on the topic.

• Sapphire
• Tourmaline
• Spinel
• Rhodolite Garnet
• Rose Quartz
• Kunzite
• Morganite

Blue

The classic blue gemstone is Sapphire. Intensely saturated blue colours are  found in Kyanite and Spinel.  In the light pastel shade of blue example   include Topaz (Sky, Swiss) , Zircon and Aquamarine. Tanzanite and Iolite are more of a violet blue, while Paraiba tourmaline, Fluorite and Apatite tending  to the blue-green.

• Sapphire
• Tanzanite
• Topaz
• Zircon
• Spinel
• Aquamarine
• Apatite
• Lapis Lazuli
• Tourmaline
• Paraiba Tourmaline
• Rainbow Moonstone
• Iolite
• Kyanite
• Agate
• Fluorite

Green

The traditional green gemstone is Emerald, but Tsavorite Garnet, Chrome Diopsite and Chrome Tourmaline are good alternatives. Peridot, which tends more to the olive green, and Lemon Quartz (greenish-yellow has become important jewelry stones in recent years, the latter particularly offering a relatively inexpensive alternative in larger sizes

• Emerald
• Tourmaline
• Paraiba Tourmaline
• Chrome Tourmaline
• Tsavorite Garnet
• Demantoid Garnet
• Chrome Diopside
• Peridot
• Jade
• Apatite
• Sapphire
• Aventurine
• Prehnite
• Agate
• Ruby-Zoisite

Yellow/Gold

Citrine is the most common lemon yellow to golden gemstone.  Stunning Yellow Sapphires offering a similar range of colour shades (however at a price premium over Citrine),  are also highly sought after. There are also good choices in harder gems such as Chrysoberyl and Beryl, with yellow Tourmaline another alternative.

• Sapphire
• Citrine
• Fire Opal
• Tourmaline
• Sphene
• Zircon
• Orthoclase
• Chrysoberyl
• Beryl
• Spodumene
• Quartz
• Agate
• Diamond

Violet/Purple

The list of violet and purple gemstones is quite short. Amethyst is the classic example, though Fluorite can also be found in an amethyst-like purple. There are wonderful violet hues in Sapphire, Spinel and Tourmaline. Chalcedony frequently occurs in a unique lavender hue.

• Amethyst
• Fluorite
• Spinel
• Tourmaline
• Sapphire
• Chalcedony

Orange

Spessartite (Hollandine) Garnet is the most famous orange gem but there are a number of other options. Orange sapphire is produced by heat treatment, while the finer fire opal occurs in hues from yellow-orange to red-orange.

• Spessartite Garnet
• Zircon
• Fire Opal
• Sapphire
• Tourmaline
• Imperial Topaz
• Moonstone
• Star Moonstone
• Citrine
• Andesine

White

These category includes both colourless gems, such as Diamond, Zircon, Topaz and Sapphire, as well white gemstones like fire opal and moonstone.

• Diamond
• Sapphire
• Zircon
• Moonstone
• Topaz
• Fire opal
• Jade
• Quartz
• Agate

Brown/Bronze

It is fair to say that brown is not the perennially popular colour in gemstones. But there are some notable exceptions, such as the peach-orange-bronze of Imperial Topaz, and the current hot favourite, Smokey Quartz in chocolate and coffee hues.

• Smoky Quartz
• Tiger's eye
• Agate
• Tourmaline
• Imperial Topaz

Gray/Silver

There are very few gemstones, which are predominantly gray or silver. In our experience the most popular is silver Spinel, whose brilliance and single refraction show gray and silver at its best.

• Spinel
• Tourmaline
• Fluorite

Black

By far the most popular black gemstones are Onyx, Black Sapphire and to a lesser extent Tourmaline. The black star sapphires only found in Chanthaburi, Thailand are also very popular.

• Diamond
• Tourmaline
• Onyx
• Agate
• Sapphire
• Star Sapphire

Multi-colour

In the category of multi-colour gemstones we list those gems, which display multiple colours in a single stone. Some of these gems, such as Ametrine, Fluorite and Bi / Tri colour Tourmaline, have distinct zones of different colours. Others, such as Tourmaline and  Andalusite, are strongly pleochroic and display different colours from different angles.

• Tourmaline
• Ametrine
• Fluorite
• Andalusite
• Opal
• Sphene
• Sapphire
• Mystic Topaz
• Mystic Quartz