Colored gemstones come in every color of the rainbow with varying gemological properties that determine the best use for each stone. If you are looking to purchase a colored gemstone or simply take care of your existing gem, the following guides will help you find the best stone for your money and style.

Categories:

Color
Price
Hardness
Durability
Faceting
Birthstones
Anniversary gifts

Color Table of Gemstones

Did you know? The human brain cannot physically remember a specific color. If you see a blue hued car, an hour later you will not be able to pick that specific hue out from several of its variant colors. This makes color grading gemstones extremely difficult and subjective. The following color distinction of gemstones is for transparent to translucent stones. In other words, colored gemstones that you can or can mostly see through. This list disregards more rare gemstones that may not be feasible to purchase or find.

Hardness:

Relevant to the purpose of your jewelry purchase, hardness can be a large or small consideration. You certainly don’t want to wear a softer stone as an everyday piece of jewelry (such as an engagement ring) to someone who is active. Hardness is defined as a gemstones “resistance to scratching ”. Hardness is broken down into ten classes, ten being the hardest and one being very softest:

Birthstones:

January = Garnet
February = Amethyst
March = Aquamarine
April = Diamond
May = Emerald
June = Andalucite
July = Ruby
August = Peridot
September = Sapphire
October = Pink Tourmaline
November = Topaz
December = Blue Zircon