Introducting Lauren B Color! We are noticing a huge migration toward non diamond center stone options. Colored gems made the list for popularity this year in upcoming trends. Color stones are a bit more complicated than diamonds since there are so many unique versions. 

Follow along with this in depth video while we go over colored gems as well as their determining factors. Some types of colored gems come in all colors imaginable, whereas some are color specific. We want you to be able to see how many options there are for unique, different, and vibrant alternatives to diamonds as center stones.

One helpful tool to begin looking at color ranges is understanding what color is. Let’s go over some helpful vocabulary words to make this learning experience easy!

What is Color?

Visible color in a gemstone has three different components: hue, tone, and saturation.

Hue

Hue refers to the basic, recognizable color you first see when you look at something, such as red or blue.

Tone

Tone is the amount of lightness or darkness of a color, all the way from colorless, to black. Imagine a stone that is so light blue that it looks colorless, ranging to a blue stone that is so dark in tone that it looks black.

Saturation

Saturation is the strength or intensity of a hue or basic color. This ranges from a dull brownish version of red for example, to the purest, brightest, most vibrant red you can imagine. The stone all the way in the photo on the left is low color saturation

All of these factors are important in perceiving color. Most gems that are not a pure version of a primary color have another color underlying that you can see. In blue stones you can have a greenish or violet component. Color description can contain more than one color, with the modifying color described before the dominant color. An example is the full description of the finest bluest sapphire possible:  medium, vivid blue sapphire, as opposed to the lowest, a very dark, grayish, blue.