Gemstones at Shira Diamonds in Dallas

Gemstone Color Trends for 2015 at Shira Diamonds

We often receive inquiries from our customers who are seeking a particular color of gemstone for a certain jewelry design. Since gemstones are natural materials and each gemstone is unique, it is sometimes difficult to find exact colors.

Pantone’s color predictions for 2015 are “soft and cool neutral” colors for spring 2015. It can be a challenge to match gemstones to manufactured colors. However, we would like to provide the nearest colored gemstones to the trending colors for 015.

When it comes to colored gemstones, the most important factor is color, and we like to think that we know our colors well. Therefore, we are proud to present some gemstones that we consider to be close to the Pantone 2015 Spring colors. If you are searching for gemstones that fit certain color specifications, this may help you to find the appropriate gems.

The chart below shows the approximate Pantone colors of 2015 and gemstone types that can be assigned to each color. There are a variety of transparent, translucent and opaque gemstones. The gemstones below vary in value from affordable to collectible.

Please note that our colors may vary slightly from the original Pantone colors and that each gemstone varies, so all gemstones of one particular type may not be the exact preferred shade. This should be seen as a rough guide rather than a definitive guide.

Color	Gemstone Types	Comments
Aquamarine	AquamarineLarimar Blue chalcedony	Aquamarine can be either transparent or translucent (cat’s eye aquamarine), whilst Larimar and blue chalcedony are opaque.
Scuba blue	TurquoiseAzurite Blue zircon Blue diamond Swiss blue topaz Blue apatite	Turquoise and azurite are opaque whilst the other choices are transparent. The most affordable transparent gem is Swiss blue topaz, which is one of the reasons why it has always been an extremely popular gemstone. Azurite is named for its vivid blue color, but its low level of hardness renders it a little more sensitive than the more popular turquoise.
Lucite green	ApatiteTsavorite garnet Emerald Aventurine	The closest in color of these is apatite. Aventurine is a translucent to opaque variety of quartz. The other stones are transparent. Tsavorite garnet gems tend to be quite small, whereas apatite stones are available in various sizes.
Classic blue	SapphireTanzanite Kyanite Iolite Star blue sapphire Lapis lazuli Sodalite	Iolite, sapphire and tanzanite can have violet secondary hues in addition to the blue. Kyanite is the closest transparent gemstone in color, but its low level of hardness can make it a little fragile. Lapis lazuli is opaque and has the added interest of golden pyrite inclusions. Sodalite is also opaque and tends to have white veined patterns.
Toasted almond	Salmon morganitePeach moonstone Smoky quartz Cognac diamond Andesine labradorite Imperial topaz	Brown has not been a very popular color for gemstones until fairly recently, with the introduction of “cognac” and “champagne” diamonds. These colors are neutral and beautiful in their own right. These gemstones range from pinkish and peach to brown. These neutral colored gems are mostly transparent, with andesine labradorite and smoky quartz occurring transparent to opaque. Moonstone is typically translucent.
Strawberry ice	Pink opalPink sapphire Rose quartz Pink spinel Pink tourmaline Pink cultured pearl Rhodolite garnet Rhodochrosite Rhodonite	Sapphire, spinel and tourmaline are typically transparent gemstones, opal, rhodochrosite, rhodonite and pearl are opaque and rose quartz is between these, being translucent to transparent. Rose quartz also occurs with asterism (the star effect). Pink tourmaline is also available in interesting bi-colored pink and green gems and even tri-colored “watermelon tourmaline”. Rhodochrosite has interesting red to pink stripes and is related to rhodonite. Rhodonite usually has black veined patterns.
Tangerine	Hessonite garnetSpessartite garnet Orange sapphire Fire opal Orange zircon Tiger’s eye Salmon coral Sphalerite	Orange gemstones range from yellowish to reddish-orange. Gems such as tiger’s eye are more earthy brown hues. Some orange gems such as sphalerite have a remarkable luster and fire. Salmon coral and tiger’s eye are opaque, whereas the other choices are transparent.
Custard	Cream star moonstoneChrysoberyl Yellow sapphire Lemon quartz Citrine Golden pearl Fire opal Champagne diamond Golden beryl Color-change diaspore(Zultanite™)	There is a great choice of yellow and golden gems, ranging from transparent to opaque. In fact, moonstone can occur transparent to translucent. These yellow gems also include cat’s eye lemon quartz. Color change diaspore (marketed as Zultanite™ and Csarite™) has the interesting property of being yellow in daylight and pink in incandescent light, offering two colors in one gemstone. For those looking for a more affordable alternative to canary yellow diamond, yellow sapphire is an excellent choice.
Marsala	Rose zirconMocca moonstone Malaya garnet Almandine garnet Star garnet Star ruby Sillimanite cat’s eye Carnelian Andesine labradorite Sunstone	This color of gemstone can be difficult to find, with many red gems being too bluish-red or orange-red. However, there are some good choices. For transparent gems, the best choices are zircon and malaya garnet, which are found in unusual rose colors. Almandine garnet tends toward a more vivid red, with some stones having a darker, more brownish hue. The other choices here are translucent to opaque, with some interesting star and cat’s eye gems.
Glacier gray	Grayish jadeiteSilver pearl Grayish-blue spinel	This color is the most challenging to match with gemstones, since gray is not generally a sought-after gemstone color. However, the best choices here are grayish lavender jadeite (translucent to opaque), silver pearl (opaque) and grayish-blue spinel (transparent).