| THE GEMS |
| Abalone |
Organic seashell, pink, orange, yellow, white |
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| Agate |
Normally banded, white, milky white or grey, also shades of green, brown, red, blue or black |
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| Alabaster |
Translucent light to dark variegated peach |
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| Amber |
Clear yellow or orange ancient petrified resin some with inclusions of fossilized leaves and insects |
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| Amethyst |
Translucent purple/lavender |
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| Apatite |
Clear to opaque in many colours including green, yellow, blue, violet and yellow-green |
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| Aquamarine |
Clear light blue, blue-green |
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| Aventurine |
Pale to mossy green with flecks of darker green |
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| Azurite |
Solid deep blue, blue-purple, sometimes with malachite inclusions |
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Bloodstone
Heliotrope |
Dark green with red flecks |
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| Carnelian |
Semi-transparent deep orangey–red with a waxy luster |
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| Chrysoprase |
Translucent bright apple-green |
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| Citrine |
Clear yellow quartz |
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| Coral, Black |
Black |
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| Coral, Orange and Red |
Ranges from light orange to deep red
**The red is known as Ox-Blood Coral |
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| Coral, Pink |
Blush pink
**Known as Angel Skin Coral and is the rarest form of coral |
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| Coral, White |
White |
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| Diamond |
Clear but can come in light blue, pink, yellow and brown |
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| Emerald |
Yellowish-green to olive green |
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| Fluorite |
Translucent pink, blue, green, yellow, purple, magenta, red, black and colourless |
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Garnet, Orange
Hessonite
Cinnamon Stone |
Fine orange, cinnamon brown or pinkish |
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| Garnet, Red |
Varying shades of red |
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| Hematite |
Silver-gray metallic |
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Iolite
Water Sapphire |
Mostly purplish-blue and very strong in one direction, changing to pale grayish-blue to nearly colorless or yellowish as the stone is turned can also be violet, blue or dark blue |
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| Ivory, Elephant |
Ranges from a dead white to soft yellowish, to pale rosy white and into the brown tones with a lustre from greasy to dull
** Quality African ivory will take a high polish |
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| Ivory, Mammoth |
Ranges in color from soft creamy to a warm brown and even dark brown
**The outer parts of a mammoth ivory is sometimes fossilized by ores, though the interior will remain the same and when this occurs that outer area will then be blue or green and may be reminiscent of intensely colored opals or look a bit like abalone in colouration |
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| Ivory, Walrus |
Yellowish cream
** Probably the second most commonly seen ivory and this is what sailors of old used for their scrimshaw |
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| Jade, Jadeite |
Opaque vivid green, lavender, pink, yellow, rosy red and white |
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| Jade, Nephrite |
Solid to translucent white to deep green |
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| Jasper |
Ranges from mottled red, yellow, brown and green |
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| Jasper, Brick Red |
Opaque terra cotta |
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| Jasper, Fancy |
Opaque creamy beige with lavender, green or pink swirls |
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| Jet |
Lustrous opaque intense black which can take such a high polish it can be used as a mirror
** Sometimes called Black Amber |
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| Lapis Lazuli |
Dark blue with metallic patches and/or white streaks |
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| Malachite |
Opaque banded from bright to dark green |
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Marcasite
Pyrite |
Grey with a metallic lustre |
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| Moldavite |
Translucent dark olive-green, intense bright bottle green to brown-green |
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| Moonstone |
Translucent with white, pink or yellow soft sheens |
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| Obsidian, Black |
Opaque black |
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| Obsidian, Snowflake |
Opaque black with small white inclusion giving an appearance of snowflakes |
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| Onyx |
White, honey, strawberry to black |
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| Opal, White |
White iridescent & opalescent with a wide range of internal colours |
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| Pearl, White |
White, sometimes with a creamy or pink tinge |
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| Pearl, Black |
Dark multi-coloured and larger then white |
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| Peridot |
Translucent olive-green to yellow-green |
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| Quartz, Actinolite |
Translucent black with darker fibers scattered throughout |
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| Quartz, Champagne |
Translucent golden brown |
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| Quartz, Crystal |
Clear |
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| Quartz, Green |
Translucent yellow-green to vibrant green |
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| Quartz, Milky |
Cloudy white |
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| Quartz, Rose |
Light pink |
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| Quartz, Rutilated/Rutile |
Clear with metallic, golden rutile or blue/grey titanium fibers |
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| Quartz, Smokey |
Translucent grey to deep, rich brown with a smoky appearance to an opaque black-brown
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| Ruby |
Pale red to bright red to blackish red
** The ultimate colour of a ruby is the bright red called "pigeon blood" and is rare and very expensive |
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| Sapphire |
Blue, green, pink, purple, clear |
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| Sapphire, Blue |
Very light to very dark (almost inky) shades of blue |
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| Sapphire, Star |
Blue or black with a light six-rayed star |
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| Sardonyx |
Striped brown and white, combination of sard and onyx |
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| Spinel |
Red, pink, violet, blue, green, orange, yellow, white and black |
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Steatite
Soapstone |
White with charcoal grey dendrites |
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| Topaz |
Translucent yellow, pink, purple, orange, colourless and the ever popular blue |
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| Topaz, Blue |
Ranges from an almost white blue to a deep vibrant dark blue |
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| Topaz, Golden |
Translucent yellow |
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| Topaz, Imperial |
Translucent yellowish-orange with some peach |
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Topaz, Pink
Topaz, Champagne |
Soft pink to pale yellow |
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| Tourmaline |
Blue, green, pink to reddish |
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| Travertine |
Pure white, opaque, milk or chalk white to almost colorless, gray, brown in hues from light ochre to deep mahogany, buff, amber, ochre yellow, pink, red and green with striations and bands |
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| Turquoise |
Sky-blue to bluish-green with black matrix or solid coloured |
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| Zircon |
White, yellow, orange, pink, blue, green and red |
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| THE METALS |
| Brass |
Yellowish, ductile and malleable |
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| Bronze |
A moderate yellowish-brown, comprised of copper and tin |
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| Copper |
Reddish, ductile and malleable |
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| Electrum |
Amber coloured alloy of gold and silver that is a natural and rare occurrence |
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| Gold |
Yellow, ductile and malleable |
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| Platinum |
Grayish-white, heavy, ductile and malleable |
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| Silver |
White, sonorous, ductile and malleable |
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