Colorful Gemstones are basically any gemstone that is not a diamond. These gems can be formed from any element from the periodic table and they come in a wide variety of colors ranging from light blue to deep shades of red. Colorful Gemstones form naturally in different shapes and crystal systems which sometimes tend to affect the cut of the stone. Oftentimes, these colorful gemstones are associated with birth months and people believe these birthstones hold special properties.

What Are Colored Gemstones?

Color in gemstones adds more value and significance to them. Buy the ideal gemstone for yourself by understanding the properties of colorful gemstones.

Emerald, the lush green gemstone, is the birthstone for May. Emeralds are made of Beryllium silicates and oxides. The berries that give emeralds their iconic sky-blue green color are chromium and vanadium. Helen Ficalora has a wide variety of emerald birthstone jewelry. The emerald birthstone disk charm is the most popular.

Ruby, the purplish-red gemstone, is the birthstone for July. It is known as the king of all gems. The colorful gemstone gets its color from the element chromium. Chromium is what gives the gem its orangey-red to purplish-red color. Helen Ficalora has a jewelry collection made up of rubies. We love the ruby stacking ring.

Sapphires are gemstones with similar characteristics, however, their color range is known for their cool blues. This group of gemstones has different names such as Pink Sapphire, White Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, etc. These stones are known to clear the minds of people and rid them of fears. The colorful gemstone gets its color from the element cobalt. Helen Ficalora mainly carries blue sapphire jewelry. There are blue sapphire disk charms for necklaces as well as flowers and hearts.

What Gemstones Have Multiple Colors?

While a majority of gemstones are categorized by color such as blue, green, red, or purple, like our amethyst birthstone charm, there are also unconventional gemstones that feature multiple colors at once. Multiple colored gemstones are essentially gemstones that display two or more pigments at the same time.

Gemstones display multiple colors simultaneously as a result of the double refraction of light. Light enters the crystal lattice of the stone and follows two different paths at distinctive speeds. Depending on the shape of the crystal, the color of the stone will change with the viewing angle.

Some of the most popular multicolored gemstones include Tourmaline, Ametrine, Fluorite, Ammolite, etc.

Tourmaline comes from the Sinhalese word “turmali” meaning the stone of mixed colors. The stone is available in a wide range of colors ranging from blue to neon blue, lime to dark green, yellow, pink, like our pink tourmaline gemstone heart, and so forth. It is also the official birthstone for October.

Ametrine is a rare multicolored gemstone originating in Anahi, Bolivia. It is a durable stone and has a high refraction index allowing it to display multiple colors under a light source.

Fluorite is seen in every color of the spectrum. It is a very popular multicolored gemstone and the bold colors that are displayed attract an audience. The fluorite crystal displays prismatic color variation when viewed in ultraviolet light.

Ammolite is another rare multicolored gemstone originating in Alberta, Canada. In fact, the name of the gemstone is driven by the Egyptian God Ammon. It is commonly believed that this stone can absorb cosmic energy from the universe giving the owner health and wealth.

What is the Most Colorful Gemstone?

Tourmaline is a multicolored gemstone that is the most colorful in the world. Tourmaline is the name of a large group of boron silicate minerals. These gemstones share a common crystal structure and physical property but vary tremendously in chemical compositions. The wide range of shapes and color zoning within crystals causes tourmaline to occur in more color combinations compared to other gemstones. We prefer the pink colored tourmaline charms.

Changing conditions during tourmaline crystal growth often result in a single crystal that contains two or more different colors in tourmaline. The earlier color is later blended with a new color. These bi-color crystals are known as zoned crystals.

These colorful gems stand out from the rest of the minerals because they are cut from color-zoned crystals that are seen as unique to customers and designers.

What to Look Out For When Buying Gemstones?

Oftentimes people find it hard to decide on what type of colorful gemstone they prefer to buy because they do not know enough about gemstones to make a decision. At Helen Ficalora, we follow a colored gemstone guide focused on the four C's of a gem known as the Color, Carat, Clarity, and Cut. This is how we choose our diamonds including the ones in our diamond chains. It is also ideal to know where the diamond originated from.

Gemstone Color - The color of the gemstone helps customers identify what kind of family of gemstone it belongs to. Due to the high demand for gemstones, these gems can be natural, synthetic, or imitations. Natural Gemstones usually come from nature without any human interaction. Synthetic gemstones are created in a laboratory using visual, chemical, and physical properties. Lastly, imitation gemstones generally are a replication of a real gem, but they don't share any natural properties. Hence, it is important to understand the color and the properties of a real gem. All of the colors of the gems can be seen in our gemstone stacking rings.

Carat - Carat refers to the weight of the gem which is equivalent to one-fifth of the gemstone. These gemstones are usually weighed using handheld balance scales with two pans. The gems are placed on one side of the scale and carob beans are placed on the other side. In the twenty-first century, electronic digital scales are used to weigh gemstones. Carat weight is generally given to the gemstone to the 100th of the carat.

Clarity - is the internal landscape of inclusions inside a diamond on the exterior of the stone. These include small crystals of the same or different minerals and tiny gas bubbles, the small liquid inside the gemstone. Internal fractures are common among gemstones, hence it is best to avoid colorful gemstones with faulty behavior. Helen Ficalora's birthstone jewelry is of the highest clarity.

Cut - The cut of the gemstone resonates with the beauty and brilliance of the stone. The gemstone cut proportion should reflect the light in an even manner without any dark areas. A poorly cut gem reduces the beauty of the stone hence, the cut of the gemstone is extremely significant.

How Can a Gemstone Buyer Be Absolutely Sure of What They are Buying?

Due to the high demand for precious stones, at certain times colorful gemstones can be fabricated, hence it is essential to understand the gem's natural properties before buying a gemstone. Buyers can be one hundred percent sure of what gem they are buying by following these categories: Gem Category, Gem Appearance, and Gem Form. Keep this in mind when you shop for birthstone colors. 

How to Shop Colorful Gemstones & Birthstone Jewelry with Helen Ficalora

Here at Helen Ficalora, we offer a wide selection of unique and colorful gemstones jewelry pieces. Our collections include birthstone disk charms, birthstone hearts, birthstone flowers, gemstone dangle earrings, gemstone stacking rings, like our opal gemstone stacking ring, and several other designs. We value your interest and product satisfaction. Let us know if you have any questions during your birthstone jewelry search.