| Many people think that
ruby and sapphire are different gemstones,
but they are actually different colors
of the same mineral, corundum. The
100 gemstones shown in this chart
are a different mineral from diamond
or emerald. From the left are green
sapphire, (blue) sapphire, violet
sapphire, ruby, orange sapphire,
yellow sapphire, and green sapphire,
as well as colorless sapphire. When
assigning gemstone names to different
colors of the same mineral, it is
best to use basic hue names. It is
difficult to make objective classifications
when using names such as padparadscha
sapphire. |
The gemstones are arranged
horizontally by hue, and vertically
by tone using nine levels from 0
to 8. Because gems of various beauty
levels are used, some have a totally
different appearance from those adjacent
to them. Beauty is judged according
to the balance of the mosaic pattern
seen in the stone, which is affected
by factors such as transparency,
saturation of color, evenness of
coloration, and quality of cut. The
numbers across the top of the chart
allow for quick reference to each
individual gemstone. |
The
sources of these gemstones include
Sri Lanka, Kenya, Thailand, the Mogok
and Mong Hsu regions of Myanmar,
Tanzania, the state of Montana in
the United States, Australia, and
Kashmir. As a matter of reference,
the distribution of colors mined
in Sri Lanka is approximately 60
percent blue, 15 percent red to violet,
and 25 percent orange to yellow. |
