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Gemstone Descriptions and Information

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Agate – a member of the chalcedony family, has curved or angular bands of color and is usually used for carved gems.  The colors can be orange (red)(brown) and white, blue and white, black and white, and pink and white.  Hardstone cameos are carved from this material.

Alexandrite – is the color change gem in the chrysoberyl family.  This rare transparent gem in daylight is yellowish green through grayish or bluish green.  At night in incandescent light the gem is orange red to purple-red.

Amber – is an amorphous organic material consisting of fossilized tree resin.  It can be light yellow to dark brown, orange, red, white, occasionally greenish or bluish.  Amber commonly has plant material trapped within, and very rarely will have a trapped fossilized insect.

Amethyst – is a transparent gem from the quartz family and is bluish purple to deep reddish purple in color.

 Ammonite– is a fossilized, mineralized ammonite shell.  The iridescent color pieces are used in jewelry.

Aquamarine – is the transparent greenish blue to blue color gem of the beryl family.

Bloodstone – is the opaque dark green with red spots member of the chalcedony family.

Carnelian – is the translucent orange red to brownish red or brownish orange member of the chalcedony family.

Chrysoprase – is the translucent light to medium yellowish green gem of the chalcedony family.

Citrine – is a transparent yellow to orange to brownish orange gem in the quartz family.

Coral – is an organic material that is the remains of tiny marine animals. It is opaque with colors of light pink, white, dark red, orange and black.

Corundum – see ruby and sapphire.

Diamond – is the hardest gemstone and is transparent to opaque.  It is colorless to very light yellow, brown or gray.   More rare diamonds occur in the Fancy Colors which include darker yellows, browns, very light to dark tones of blue, green, orange, pink, red and purple.  Black diamonds come from highly included stones that formerly were only used for industrial purposes. 

Emerald – is the transparent but often highly included green gem of the beryl family.  Its color can be light to very dark green to very strongly bluish green.

Garnet – is a transparent gem found in many colors including shades of red, orange, purple-red and greens.  Some of the more common garnets are Pyrope Garnets, medium to dark red.  Rhodolite Garnets, light to dark purplish red. More rare and valuable are the green garnets, demantoid and tsavorite garnets.

Golden or Yellow Beryl – is a transparent yellow gem also called heliodor.

Jadeite Jade – is semitransparent to opaque and occurs in shades of green, yellow to reddish orange, white, light purple (lavender), brown, gray and black.

Lapis Lazuli – is an opaque rock of a medium dark to slightly violetish blue color with flecks of gold colored pyrite and sometimes white calcite.

Malachite – an opaque gem that is usually banded in two or more shades of green.  
  
Morganite – is the pink form of the beryl family, a transparent pink, light reddish orange to light purplish red color.

Nephrite Jade – is usually opaque and most commonly found in a “spinach green” color.  Large “jade” carvings are usually this form of jade.   

Onyx – is the black gem in the chalcedony family.       
                                                       
Opal – is a transparent to opaque gem in virtually any body color with phenomena called play-of-color where flashes of other colors are seen as the gem is rotated.  Opals are frequently cut with the underlying stone (called the boulder) due to their fragility.  Thin pieces are also often mounted on other stones such as black onyx to give them support.

Pearls – are an organic gem formed in the bodies of certain saltwater and freshwater mollusks.  Natural Pearls form without the help of man and are extremely rare and highly valued.  Cultured pearls form when man inserts an irritant into the mollusk.  Different types and sizes and colors of pearls form in different parts of the world.  Akoya cultured pearls come from Japan and China.  South Sea cultured pearls come from Australia, Tahiti, Indonesia and the Philippines, and freshwater pearls come from the United States and China.

Peridot – is a transparent gem that is yellowish green to greenish yellow in color.

Quartz – is a very large family of gemstones which include amethyst and citrine.  Some of the other gems are rock crystal - the transparent colorless form; rose quartz - transparent to translucent and light pink; rutilated quart – transparent and containing eye visible needle-like inclusions; smoky quartz – transparent light to dark brown; and tiger’s-eye – which is opaque, brownish yellow to brown to reddish brown color and has a phenomena called chatoyancy.  This phenomena shows shifting lighter bands of color as the stone is turned and rotated.

Rhodochrosite – a translucent to opaque pink mineral species, often with a banded pattern of white. 

Rhodonite – a translucent to opaque pink to purplish red mineral species, usually with black veins or splotches.

Ruby – the red to purplish red, brownish red transparent to opaque form of the species corundum.  The pure red color is the most valuable of this gem.  The “star ruby” exhibits the phenomena know as asterism, and is only found in opaque, cabochon cut stones.  Again, the pure red color stones are the most valuable.  All corundum is the second hardest gemstone, second only to diamonds, and as a result, are a good stone for engagement rings.

Sapphire – a transparent to opaque form of the species corundum, appearing in virtually all colors except red.  The most well known form is the blue gem, varying from light blue to dark violetish blue.  The “star sapphire” exhibits the phenomena known as asterism, and is only found in opaque, cabochon cut stones in shades of blue to blue-gray.  Some of the other colors of sapphire are yellow or golden, pink, pinkish-orange, purple, violet, green, and colorless.  Sapphires, a corundum, is the second hardest gemstone, second only to diamonds, and as a result, are a good stone for engagement rings.

Shell – an organically formed material that was the covering of a saltwater or freshwater animal.  Shells are translucent to opaque and can be virtually any color, but commonly are white, gray, orange, pink – often with a layered coloring.  Cameos are most commonly carved from shells, and mother of pearl is a shell with a pearly luster.

Spinel – a transparent gem in many colors including pink, red, orange, colorless, blue, violet to  purple, yellow and green.

Tanzanite – the most valuable form of the species zoisite, transparent and occurring in blue to violet to bluish purple colors. 

Topaz –  a transparent gem in many colors including colorless, yellow , orange, brown, pink to red, light to dark blue and light green.  The variety called “London Blue Topaz” has been treated by radiation to achieve that color, and in the US is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to insure that it is not radioactive.   Many of these gems found outside the US are radioactive.

Tourmaline – a transparent gem found in virtually all colors.  Rubellite is in the pink to red range; indicolite is in the violetish to greenish blue range; chrome is fine intense green, yellowish-green; Paraiba is the very rare “electric blue” color that comes only from Paraiba, Brazil.

Turquoise – semitranslucent to opaque mineral occurring in shades of light to medium blue, greenish blue to green and often mottled and showing dark splotches or veins of matrix (the host rock).  Turquoise called “Persian” is an intense, even medium blue with good polish, and is considered the finest.

Zircon – a transparent gem often found in antique jewelry, especially the colorless and blue.  It also occurs in yellow, green, brown, orange, red and occasionally purple.