Coloured Gemstones

For Academic use only: Prepared by Divya N

Coloured Stones
• Any gemstone that isn’t a diamond – Coloured stone
• For centuries, artists and poets have used images of
coloured stones to express beauty, love, passion, and
power. Stones can be both calming as well as invigorating.
• To be a gem, a substance must share three important traits
with all other gems: beauty, rarity, and durability.
• Colored stones can be natural or Lab grown
• Natural gems—Gems produced by natural processes,
without human help.
• Lab-grown gem—A manmade (synthetic) gem with
essentially the same chemical composition, crystal
structure, and properties as its natural counterpart.
• Buying decision is influenced by Colour, clarity, Cut and
Carat

Prepared by Divya N
Prepared by Divya N
Prepared by Divya N
Chemical Composition and Structure
• Chemical formula—Written description of a material’s chemical make-up.
The chemical formula for corundum (sapphire andruby) is Al2O3 (Al =
aluminum, O = oxygen).
• Trace elements—Atoms in a gem that aren’t part of its essential chemical
composition. Color is one of the most obvious effects of a trace element.
Presence of iron and titanium in Corrundum makes it’s a Sapphire and
presence of Chromium makes it a ruby
• Crystal structure—Regular, repeating internal arrangement of atoms in a
material. Both diamond and Graphite are pure carbon but they have
different crystal structures
• Amorphous—Lacking a regular crystal structure. Opals and volcanic glass
are amorphous gems

Prepared by Divya N
Species & groups
• Gem species—A broad gem category based on chemical
composition and crystal structure.
• Gem variety—A subcategory of species, based on color,
transparency, or phenomenon (optical effects).
• Group - A group consists of minerals from several closely related
species. Minerals in a group can vary in crystal structure or
chemical composition, but they always have common
characteristics in at least one of those categories.
• Some gemstone groups are tourmaline, spinel, garnet, and
feldspar. Members of the garnet, tourmaline, and spinel groups
have essentially the same crystal structure but different elements in
their chemical composition. E.g Sunstone labradorite and
moonstone both belong to Feldspar group

Moonstone earrings

Prepared by Divya N
Prepared by Divya N
Mohs Scale • Diamond 10
• Corundum 9
• Topaz 8
• Quartz 7
In 1822 a German professor and • Orthoclase 6
mineralogist named Friedrich Mohs • Apatite 5
(MOZE) developed a system for rating • Fluorite 4
the relative hardness of minerals.
• Calcite 3
Because diamond scratched every other
mineral, he gave it the number • Gypsum 2
10. He then tested other minerals in a • Talc 1
similar way.

Prepared by Divya N
Durability
• Hardness—How well a gemstone resists scratches and abrasion.
Exceptional hardness doesn’t necessarily mean exceptional
toughness.
• Toughness—How well a gemstone resists breaking, chipping,
and cracking. Jadeite and ruby rank high in toughness while
emerald, opal rank very low
• Stability—How well a gemstone resists the effects of light, heat,
and chemicals. Diamonds are very stable. Green Flourite with calcite frosting

• Low durability is the reason that beautiful minerals like fluorite

and calcite are not usually used in hand jewellery
• Opals and pearls are “soft” gemstones; they require more care to
prevent scratches.

Prepared by Divya N
The power of coloured stones

• According to ManiMala, a treatise on gemstones, “mani” or gemstones

have amuletic powers. They are believed to protect the wearer from
demons, snakes, poisons, diseases, wrath, envy, jealousy and other
dangers.
• Modern writing enquires how gemstones can hold the attention of the
viewer, mesmerise us. Gemstones can stimulate creative thinking and
forge connections that last.
• Coloured stones, due to the nature of their colours operate at a particular
frequency. The vibrations resulting from such frequencies can be tapped
into for our benefit. This is one of the reasons why coloures stones are
worn, apart from their inherent beauty.
• Quartz crystals are used for meditation and malas of opaque gemstones
are used for chanting and prayer

Prepared by Divya N
 Navaratna
• Navaratna – as one word refers to a talisman, piece of
jewellery or ornament composed of nine perfect
gemstones.
• Each of the stones depict a particular planetary body and
tap into their energies. All these nine gems are considered
equally sacred, and they only differ according to the astral
influence of their ruling planets.
• Navaratna are associated with moon signs not sun signs
and the concept is different than that of a birthstone.
• In Navaratna jewellery, a Ruby, representing the sun, is in
the center encircled by the other eight gemstones.

Prepared by Divya N
Colour, Clarity, Cut, and Carat
Weight of Coloured stones

Prepared by Divya N
Clarity
• Clarity—A gemstone’s relative freedom from inclusions and blemishes.
Clarity characteristics = inclusions + blemishes
• Large inclusions have more influence than small inclusions. The more
inclusions a stone has, the lower its clarity. There are exceptions: A stone
can have many minute inclusions and still be high on the clarity scale for
that species. If a stone has inclusions that are visible only under
magnification then its eye-clean.
• Many transparent coloured stones, emerald and tourmaline, tend to have
Fluid inclusion—Small pocket in a gem that’s filled with fluids and,
sometimes, gas bubbles and tiny crystals.
• Beyond appearance, an inclusion’s nature or type can affect a gem’s
durability value, and ability to withstand certain repair procedures. E.g air
pockets, fluid inclusions, breaks (feather or fractures)

Prepared by Divya N
Inclusions can add value
• Sometimes an Included crystal—A mineral crystal can
get trapped within a gem as it grows.
• Some inclusions can enhance a gem’s value.
• E.g Silk—Group of fine needle-like inclusions in
gemstones such as rutile. Silk can create phenomena
like cat’s-eyes and stars.
• Prized demantoid garnets contain unusual golden,
fibrous inclusions known as horsetails.

Prepared by Divya N
Cut
Cut is the human contribution to a stone’s
appearance with shape and style (arrangement
of a stone’s Facets).

• Cut helps with the effective display of color

by maximizing light return.
• It influences clarity through the elimination or
strategic positioning of inclusions.
• It affects carat weight through the retention
or sacrifice of weight from rough.
Cut includes proportions + finish

Prepared by Divya N
Faceted stones &
cabochons

There are two types of cabochons: the simple cab with

rounded top and flat bottom and the double cab with
rounded top and bottom. The third cut, called a buff top,
has a rounded top and faceted pavilion.

Prepared by Divya N
Prepared by Divya N
Cutting Decisions that Affect
Gem Colour
• Window—An area of weak saturation in a transparent gemstone’s
bodycolor that usually results from the way the gem was cut.
• Extinction—Dark areas in a faceted transparent colored stone.
• A shallow stone will look lighter in colour than one with a deeper cut

Prepared by Divya N
Carat
• Metric carat—The international unit of measurement for
gem weight (1 carat equals 0.20 gram).
• Point—One one-hundredth of a carat (0.01 ct.)
aquamarine on the left weighs 20.01
• Two coloured gemstones with the same carat weight differ cts. and the topaz on the right weighs
noticeably in Size due to the crystal structure, specific 26.37 cts. This occurs because
gravity and chemical makeup of the stones. aquamarine’s SG (2.70) is lower than
• Specific gravity (SG)—Ratio of the weight of a material to topaz’s SG (3.60).
the weight of an equal volume of water.

Prepared by Divya N
Why is color the most
important factor in a colored
stone’s visual appeal?

Prepared by Divya N
 Colour In gemstone
• Selective absorption—Process by which a material absorbs
some components of visible light and returns others.
• Hue—The first impression of a gem’s basic colour.
• Tone—Degree of darkness or lightness of a gem
• Saturation—A color’s strength or intensity

A gem’s chemical composition and its crystal structure combine to affect the way it absorbs and returns light.
• Color center—A small defect in the atomic structure of a material that can absorb light and give rise to a color.
• Color range—The selection of colors in which a gemstone occurs.
• Fine color—The color or colors in a gemstone’s color range considered by the trade to be the most desirable.
• Bodycolor—A gemstone’s basic color, determined by its selective absorption of light.

Prepared by Divya N
 Colour defects & effects
• Color zoning—Areas of different color in a gem, caused by variations in growth
conditions
• Gems with two or more distinct color zones are called parti-coloured gems.
Sometimes a gem with only two zones is called a bicolour gem. Two examples
are bicolour tourmaline and ametrine, which has alternating zones of purple
amethyst and yellow citrine.
• Pleochroism—When a gem shows different bodycolors from different
directions. Some pleochroic gems display two colors that are so similar to one
another—green and blue-green in emerald, which can’t be seen without special
equipment.

Prepared by Divya N
Colour based trade names – use them carefully

• Burma ruby –fine red

• Columbian emerald – deep green

Misnomers
• Water sapphire for iolite
• Balas ruby for red spinel
• Black diamond for hematite
• Evening emerald for peridot

Prepared by Divya N
Phenomenal stones & effects
• Stones such as Opal, moonstone, fire agate with optical effects are
phenomenal stones
• Play-of-color—The flashing rainbow colors in opal.
• Adularescence—The cloudy bluish white light in a moonstone, caused by
scattering of light.

Prepared by Divya N
• Chatoyancy—Bands of light in certain gems, caused by reflection of light from many parallel, needle-like
inclusions or hollow tubes. Can be seen in Cat’s eye chrysoberyl
• Milk and honey—A two-toned effect seen when a chatoyant gem is positioned at right angles to a light source
• While the needle-like inclusions in cat’s-eye gems line up in a single direction, in other gems they line up in
several different directions. When the chatoyant bands cross in the center to create rays, a star is born. This
striking effect is called asterism

Prepared by Divya N
• Colour change - A distinct change in gem Orient—Iridescence (rainbow effect sometimes
color under different types of lighting - seen on oil+ water surface) seen in some natural
Natural & synthetic alexandrite and cultured pearls and mother-of-pearl.

Prepared by Divya N
 Aventurescence—A glittery effect caused by
• Labradorescence—A broad flash of color in light reflecting from small, flat inclusions
labradorite feldspar that disappears when the within a gemstone. Seen in sunstone and
gem is moved. sandstone

Prepared by Divya N
Birthstones for each month

Prepared by Divya N
Big 3
• Big 3 refers to three gemstones – Ruby, Sapphire
and Emerald. When diamond is included they are
known as the big 4.
• When all 4 are included in a piece it is known as
tutti fruiti
• Ruby and Sapphire are corrundum and emerald is
a Beryl

Prepared by Divya N
Emerald stories & myths
• Cleopatra was known to have a passion for emerald, and
used it in her royal adornments.
• The Incas used (Columbian) emeralds in their religious
ceremonies and Spaniards who invaded the Americas
started to plunder and trade these emeralds and introduced
them to Asian Royalty
• The Mughals & Nizams of India wore large gems in various
shapes
• Emerald is The birthstone for the month of May. It’s also
the gemstone for twentieth and thirty-fifth wedding
anniversaries.
• Myths - Looking at emeralds will soothe the eyes, relieve
stress and improve vision | Emeralds give the power to see
the future, reveal truth and protect against evil spells.
Prepared by Divya N
Emerald
• Emerald, famous for its distinctive green color, is a variety
of the beryl mineral species. Other beryl varieties include
aquamarine and morganite.
• Major emerald sources are Colombia, Brazil, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe. Emeralds can be synthetically created in the lab
• most emeralds are treated. Some are filled with oils, such
as cedarwood. Others are filled with polymer resins to hide
surface-reaching breaks and improve transparency.
• emeralds are pleochroic, meaning they display different
colors in different directions. The colors are so similar that
you usually need special equipment to tell one color from
the other.

Prepared by Divya N
 Ruby stories & myths

• Burma - Myanmar is synonymous with fine-quality ruby. Mozambique,

Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kenya,
Madagascar, Malawi, Tajikistan, and Tanzania are a few of the world’s
other ruby sources.
• Myths & Beliefs - People once believed rubies could cure blood
disorders or heal wounds. People from the distant past swallowed rubies
whole or pounded them into powder and put them into a liquid or pasty
mixture, which they then rubbed on their skin. Rubies could ensure a
peaceful life and bring health, wealth, wisdom, and love.

Prepared by Divya N
Ruby
• The finest ruby has a pure, vibrant red to slightly purplish red hue and the highest-quality
rubies have vivid saturation. Orangy or more purplish rubies are less valuable.
• Some gems come in ruby-like colors, and they’re often given names that link them to
ruby. These include “rubellite” for red tourmaline, “rubolite” for red opal, “rubicelle” for
red spinel, and “rubace” for red-stained quartz.

Prepared by Divya N
Sapphire stories & myths
• Clergy in the late Middle Ages favored blue
sapphire for their ecclesiastical rings because its
color symbolized heaven. Magicians said it led
them to prophecies and allowed them to command
spirits.
• sapphire was believed to be a medicine for eye
ailments, antidote for poison fevers, colds, and
ulcers.
• Foremost source of Blue Sapphire was Kashmir. At
the present it is sourced from Sri Lanka, Australia,
Myanmar, Thailand, and Madagascar Logan Sapphire, a
423-ct. blue stone
from Sri Lanka

Prepared by Divya N
 Sapphire
• When the word sapphire stands alone, it usually means
the gem is blue.
• Sapphires also appear in colorless and black variations as
well as a wide range of colors. They include violet, green,
yellow, orange, pink, and purple. They’re considered
fancy-color sapphires and designated by color, as in
“yellow sapphire.”
• Most prized colour sapphire is padparadschas, the pink-
orange to pinkish orange sapphires from Sri Lanka.

Prepared by Divya N
Lab Grown Stones
• Flame fusion—A process in which powdered
chemicals are dropped through a high-
temperature flame onto a rotating pedestal to
produce a synthetic crystal. Auguste Verneuil
was the first to successfully create rubies for
jewellery with this process
• Flux growth—A process in which nutrients
dissolve in heated chemicals, then cool to
form synthetic crystals.
• Hydrothermal growth—A process in which
nutrients dissolve in a water solution at high
temperature and pressure, then cool to form
synthetic crystals.
Prepared by Divya N
Types of Gem Treatments
The following gem treatments require disclosure:
• Bleaching
• Heating
• Cavity filling
• Irradiation
• Colorless impregnation
• Lattice diffusion
• Dyeing
• Sugar and smoke treatments
• Fracture filling
• Surface modification

Prepared by Divya N
• Colorless impregnation improves the
appearance—including luster and
sometimes color—and the stability of
porous gems. The treatment is used on
Turquoise and jadeite.
• Melted wax, plastic, or other
substances fill pores and other
openings, then solidify.

• Dyeing—A treatment that adds color or

affects color by deepening it, making it
more even, or changing it.

Prepared by Divya N
• Quench crackling—A rapid heating and
cooling process that produces fractures
in a stone so it will accept dye.
• Fracture (fissure) filling—Using a filler
to conceal fractures and improve the
apparent clarity of a gem.

quench-crackled and dyed

Prepared by Divya N
• Heat Treatment - The purpose of
heating is to improve appearance.
• Heat can lighten, darken, deepen,
or completely change a gem’s
color. E.g heating some light
corundum generally gives it a
blue color. Heat treatment can
also lighten blue in dark blue
sapphires. It can also remove the
blue component of purplish
rubies to highlight their red color.

Prepared by Divya N
Surface modification
• Altering a gem’s appearance by applying
backings, coatings, or coloring agents like
paint
• The backings included silver or gold foils,
fabric, paper
• Coatings include wax, varnish, plastic, ink,
and metallic compounds. Wax is used to
improve the luster of lapis, jadeite,
turquoise, and opal. Beryl, corundum,
quartz, and jadeite are treated with a variety
of colored coatings.

Prepared by Divya N
• Lattice diffusion—Exposing a gem to high temperatures and chemicals to allow
penetration of color-causing elements.
• Sugar treatment—Soaking an opal in a hot sugar solution and then in sulfuric acid to
darken it and bring out its play-of-color.
• Smoke treatment—Heating a wrapped opal until smoke or ash penetrates its surface
to darken it and bring out its play-of-color

Prepared by Divya N
Treatments Aren’t Forever
• Under normal wear and with reasonable care, most heat treatments are very
durable. But chemicals can cause problems with porous gems like pearls and ivory.
Ultrasonic cleaners, solvents, acids, and standard cleaning solutions can damage or
remove dyes, oils, waxes, and plastics.
• Sunlight and store lighting can sometimes make enough heat to “sweat” wax or oil
out of a treated stone.
• The heat from a bench jeweler’s torch can change the colour of a heat-treated stone
and even of some naturally colored gems. It can destroy irradiated colour centers
and eliminate the color they cause. It can also burn an oil or a dye, or vaporize an
impregnation or coating.
• Treatments and Treated stones must be disclosed

Prepared by Divya N
Imitations
• Certain materials like glass, plastic andmore commonly
available stones like quartz and agate are treated to
mimic more expensive gemstones
• Howlite is dyed to look like turquoise
• A glass material known as “slocum stone” can mimic
the appearance of opal.
• Colorless quartz can be subjected to thermal shock
that creates a series of tiny fractures throughout the
stone. Dye is then introduced, causing the material to
simulate many different kinds of gems, in this case—
emerald and ruby.
• Assembled stones - When manufacturers glue or fuse
two or more separate pieces of material together in the
form of a faceted gemstone, the result is called an
assembled or composite stone. The separate pieces
can be natural or manmade.
Prepared by Divya N
Resource & further reading

• https://www.gia.edu/gem-encyclopedia
• https://www.gia.edu/gem-imitation
• https://www.gia.edu/birthstones
• https://www.jewelsofsayuri.com/2020/06/what-is-navaratna-
jewellery.html
• https://www.jewelsofsayuri.com/category/gemstones-in-color

Prepared by Divya N