July 16th, 2010 by Brad Handsome

Gems come in each and every color of the spectrum. Whilst sapphires, rubies and emeralds are what come to mind very first when one thinks of a colored gem, you’ll find so many other wonderful colored gemstones to consider. Even among gems normally associated with a single shade, you’ll find gradations and variations to them. A sapphire, for instance, comes in numerous various hues of blue, depending on where it is from. But sapphires can also come in pink, yellow and green.

Essentially the most really prized colored gems are within the quite deepest, richest hues on the colouring. Although sapphires can variety from pale blue to near-black, by far the most beneficial are a rich, deep blue. The same holds true for rubies. Although they too can range in colour from pale to incredibly dark and murky, probably the most highly-valued coloring is what’s called pigeon’s blood, a deep blood-red ruby that is mined in what was once known as Burma.

Probably the most high-priced emeralds are a deep green, although emeralds themselves come in a broad spectrum of hues, from yellow-green to blue-green. All colored gems, and clear gems, depend on expert cutting and polishing to showcase the colors in all their subtleties and brilliance.

Typically the deeper and richer the colour, the much more important the stone. The greatest amethysts will be a dark, royal purple. A lighter-colored amethyst simply isn’t as valuable.

But quite a few people prefer these lighter or darker gradations in color. And, they tend to be a lot more affordable. A slightly lighter-colored amethyst is much easier to obtain than the “ideal” colouring, but is still a lovely gemstone.

Oddly enough, diamonds are rated by how colorless they are. The less shade, the higher the grade of diamond. Unless of course it’s a defined colouring for example a pink diamond or a canary diamond. These are almost as extremely prized like a near-colorless diamond.

Brad Handsome manages Diamond Jewelry site and an author of Jewelry Review