Gems by Color
Many people purchase gems by type - for example, they want to buy a sapphire, a tourmaline or an amethyst. But one thing we've learned in the colored gem business is that most customers are concerned above all with color, and are less concerned with gem variety, as long as the stone they buy is durable enough for their purpose. Since color is indeed the most important factor for most people when it comes to buying loose gemstones, it only makes sense to start your search by shopping for gemstones by color. Finding gems by color can often be difficult; since websites tend to organize their inventory around gem varieties rather than colors. So for those who want to know what their options are in particular colors, here is a list of gem types organized by color. Since there are hundreds of color variations in colored gems, we have organized this list around "base" colors or color families. This means that a red-orange gem can fall into the "orange" or "red" category and a blue-green stone would be in the "green" or "blue" category. Red GemsRed gemstones are actually quite rare, and mainly occur in ruby, spinel and garnet. There is some very fine red tourmaline (sometimes called rubellite), but it is not often found. 
Ruby
Almandine Garnet
Andesine Labradorite
Red Coral
Pyrope Garnet
Rhodolite Garnet
Red Spinel
Star Garnet
Strawberry Quartz
More information on red gemstones for jewelry. Pink GemsThe most popular pink gemstones are tourmaline and spinel. Pink sapphire is lovely but rare, especially in gems weighing over 1 carat. Rhodolite garnet tends to be purple-pink. Compared to other colors, the list of pink gemstones is quite short. 
Pink Sapphire
Pink Spinel
Rose Quartz
Pink Coral
Kunzite
Malaya Garnet
Morganite
Pink Mystic Topaz
Pink Opal
Pink Pearl
Rhodolite Garnet
Star Rose Quartz
Pink Tourmaline
Pink Zircon
More information on pink gemstones for jewelry. Blue GemsThe classic blue gemstone is sapphire. Deeply saturated blue is also found in spinel and kyanite. There are a number of choices in the lighter blues, including topaz, zircon and aquamarine. Tanzanite and iolite are more of a violet blue, while Paraiba tourmaline, apatite and fluorite tend to be blue-green. 
Blue Sapphire
Tanzanite
Blue Topaz
Blue Zircon
Iolite
Kyanite
Larimar
Blue Agate
Blue Apatite
Aquamarine
Chalcedony
Azurite Druzy
Blue Jadeite
Lapis Lazuli
Rainbow Moonstone
Sodalite
Blue Star Sapphires
Turquoise
More information on blue gemstones for jewelry. Green GemsThe traditional green gem is emerald, but tsavorite garnet, chrome tourmaline and chrome diopside are also good alternatives. See our feature article on chrome diopside for the recent history of the market for the finer green gemstones. Peridot, which tends to be olive green, has become an important jewelry gemstone. 
Emerald
Peridot
Prehnite
Green Tourmaline
Tsavorite Garnet
Grandidierite
Actinolite Cat's Eye
Green Agate
Amazonite
Green Apatite
Aventurine
Bloodstone
Green Cat's Eye Apatite
Cat's Eye Aquamarine
Chrome Diopside
Chrome Tourmaline
Green Chrysoberyl
Demantoid Garnet
Green Fluorite
Hiddenite
Green Jadeite
Kornerupine
Malachite
Maw-Sit-Sit
Green Sapphire
Serpentine
Sphene
Variscite
More information on green gemstones for jewelry. Yellow / Gold GemsCitrine is the most common yellow to gold gem, but yellow sapphire is highly sought after. There are also good choices in harder gems such as beryl and chrysoberyl. Canary yellow tourmaline from Malawi is very rare. 
Citrine
Yellow Quartz
Yellow Sapphire
Yellowish Golden Zircon
Golden Beryl
Yellow Opal
Yellow Agate
Yellow Apatite
Cat's Eye Opal
Yellowish Golden Diamond
Mali Garnet
Rutile Quartz
Yellow Sillimanite
Yellow Sphene
Yellow Tourmaline
More information on yellow gemstones for jewelry. Violet / Purple GemsThe 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 spinel, tourmaline and sapphire. Chalcedony frequently occurs in a unique lavender hue. 
More information on violet and purple gemstones for jewelry. Orange GemsSpessartite garnet is the most famous orange gem but there are a number of other options as well. Orange sapphire is produced by heat treatment, while the finer fire opal occurs in hues from yellow-orange to red-orange. 
Spessartite Garnet
Orange Sapphire
Orange Sunstone
Citrine
Orange Agate
Orange Andesine Labradorite
Hessonite Garnet
Orange Mali Garnet
Orange Moonstone
Orange Opal
Orange Tourmaline
Orange Zircon
White GemsThis category includes both colorless gems, such as diamond, sapphire, zircon and topaz, as well as white gemstones like opal and moonstone. 
More information on white gemstones for jewelry. Brown / Bronze GemsIt is fair to say that brown is not the most popular color in gemstones. But there are some notable exceptions, such as the peach-orange-bronze of imperial topaz. 
Brown Cat's Eye Opal
Brown Cat's Eye Scapolite
Brown Moonstone
Brown Rutile Quartz
Smoky Quartz
Star Sunstone
Tiger's Eye
Brown Tourmaline
Gray / Silver GemsThere are very few gemstones which are predominantly gray or silver. In our experience the most popular is spinel, whose brilliance and single refraction show gray and silver at its best. 
Hematite
Labradorite
Gray Silver Mother of Pearl
Silver Pearl
Pyrite
Cat's Eye Sillimanite
Gray Star Sapphire
Black GemsWe occasionally stock black diamonds (produced by irradiation). But by far the most popular black gemstone is tourmaline. The black star sapphires only found in Chanthaburi, Thailand are also very popular. 
More information on black gemstones for jewelry. Multicolor GemsIn the category of multicolor gemstones we list those gems which display multiple colors in a single stone. Some of these gems, such as tourmaline, fluorite and ametrine, have zones of different colors. Others, such as andalusite, are strongly pleochroic and display different colors from different angles. 
Ammolite
Multicolor Agate
Andalusite
Multicolor Black Opal
Boulder Opal
Chrysocolla
Multicolor Coral
Fire Agate
Multicolor Fluorite
Fossil Coral
Multicolor Jasper
Multicolor Jasper
Labradorite
Mystic Quartz
Multicolor Opal
Pietersite
Ruby Zoisite
Snowflake Obsidian
Spectrolite
Sugilite
Tiger's Eye Matrix
Multicolor Tourmaline
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- First Published: January-09-2008
- Last Updated: November-19-2018
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