Other Natural Gemstones

Beyond Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald

Ruby, sapphire and emerald may be the best-known coloured gemstones, but the natural world offers an extraordinary variety of other gems.

From the cool blue of aquamarine and intense blue violet of tanzanite to the remarkable colours of tourmaline and spinel, natural gemstones provide almost unlimited possibilities for creating individual jewellery.

Some are suitable for engagement rings and regular wear, while others require greater care and may be better suited to earrings, pendants or special-occasion jewellery.

At Dream Diamonds, we believe the right gemstone should be selected not only for its beauty, but also with an understanding of its durability, rarity, treatments and suitability for the jewellery you are creating.

Aquamarine

Aquamarine is the beautiful blue to blue-green variety of the mineral beryl — the same mineral family as emerald and morganite.

Its colour can range from very pale blue through to stronger blue and blue-green tones. Fine stones with attractive colour and good transparency can be particularly beautiful.

Aquamarine is often found with relatively good clarity, allowing cutters to produce larger, clean-looking gemstones.

Is Aquamarine Suitable for an Engagement Ring?

Aquamarine measures approximately 7.5–8 on the Mohs hardness scale, making it reasonably resistant to scratching.

It can be used for an engagement ring, but it does require more care than diamond, ruby or sapphire.

For someone who loves its soft blue colour and understands that the stone needs to be treated with some consideration, aquamarine can make a beautiful and distinctive centre stone.

Is Aquamarine Treated?

Heat treatment is commonly used to modify or improve the blue colour of aquamarine.

As with other natural gemstones, treatment does not necessarily mean the gemstone is not natural. What matters is that significant treatments are properly understood and disclosed.

Tanzanite

Tanzanite is one of the most distinctive modern-coloured gemstones.

Known for its beautiful blue to violet-blue colour, tanzanite is a variety of the mineral zoisite.

One of the fascinating aspects of tanzanite is its pleochroism, meaning the gemstone can display different colours when viewed from different directions.

Tanzanite also has an unusually concentrated geographic source. Commercial production is associated with a relatively small mining area in northern Tanzania, near Mount Kilimanjaro.

Is Tanzanite Suitable for an Engagement Ring?

Tanzanite measures approximately 6–7 on the Mohs hardness scale and requires consideration because of its cleavage and overall durability.

For this reason, we would generally recommend more care with tanzanite than with sapphire or ruby.

It can be used in rings, but the design should provide appropriate protection, and the wearer needs to understand that it is not as robust as some other gemstones.

Tanzanite is particularly beautiful in earrings, pendants and special-occasion jewellery where it is less exposed to knocks and impacts.

Is Tanzanite Treated?

Most tanzanite in the market has been heat treated to produce or enhance its characteristic blue to violet appearance.

This treatment is widely accepted within the gemstone industry but should still be understood when purchasing the stone.

Tourmaline

Few gemstone families offer the extraordinary variety of colour found in tourmaline.

Natural tourmaline can occur in:

Green
Pink
Red
Blue
Yellow
Orange
Purple
Brown
Black
Bi-colour and multi-colour combinations

Some crystals contain two or more distinct colours, creating spectacular gemstones.

One well-known example is watermelon tourmaline, which typically combines pink or red with green.

Paraíba Tourmaline

One of the most celebrated varieties is Paraíba-type tourmaline, known for exceptionally vivid blue, green-blue and turquoise colours associated with copper.

Fine examples can be extremely valuable.

The terminology surrounding Paraíba tourmaline, geographic origin and copper-bearing tourmaline can be important at the upper end of the market. For a significant stone being sold at a substantial premium, an appropriate independent laboratory report can be particularly valuable.

Is Tourmaline Suitable for an Engagement Ring?

Tourmaline generally measures around 7–7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale.

It can be used in rings, including engagement rings, but requires more care than diamond, ruby or sapphire.

Its enormous range of colours makes it particularly attractive for custom-made jewellery where individuality is the priority.

Spinel

Spinel is a gemstone that deserves considerably more recognition.

For centuries, some famous red spinels were mistaken for rubies because the two gemstones can have remarkably similar appearances.

Today, natural spinel is appreciated as an important gemstone in its own right.

Spinel occurs in colours including:

Red
Pink
Purple
Blue
Violet
Orange
Grey

Fine red and vivid pink spinels can be particularly striking, while certain blue spinels can also be highly desirable.

Is Spinel Suitable for an Engagement Ring?

Spinel measures approximately 8 on the Mohs hardness scale, giving it good resistance to scratching and making it one of the more practical-coloured gemstones for jewellery worn regularly.

For someone wanting something less conventional than sapphire or ruby, a fine natural spinel can be an exceptional choice.

Is Spinel Treated?

An appealing characteristic of the spinel market is that many natural spinels are sold without the extensive treatments commonly associated with some other coloured gemstones.

However, treatment and origin should never simply be assumed.

For a particularly valuable natural spinel, independent laboratory documentation may still be appropriate.

Morganite

Morganite is the pink to peach-coloured variety of beryl, placing it in the same mineral family as emerald and aquamarine.

Its delicate colours can range from pale pink through peach and salmon tones.

Morganite became particularly popular in contemporary jewellery because its soft colour works beautifully with both white and rose-coloured metals.

Is Morganite Suitable for an Engagement Ring?

Morganite measures approximately 7.5–8 on the Mohs hardness scale.

Although reasonably hard, it still requires more care than diamond, ruby or sapphire when worn regularly.

Morganite can make a beautiful engagement ring for someone attracted to softer pastel colours, provided its care requirements are understood.

Amethyst

Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz and has been used in jewellery for thousands of years.

Its colour ranges from pale lilac through to rich, deep purple and may display reddish or bluish secondary tones.

One of amethyst's attractions is that beautiful stones can often be found in relatively large sizes without the dramatic increase in price associated with larger fine rubies, sapphires or emeralds.

Is Amethyst Suitable for an Engagement Ring?

Amethyst measures 7 on the Mohs hardness scale.

It can certainly be worn in rings, but for an engagement ring intended for constant everyday wear, we would generally regard ruby, sapphire, spinel or diamond as more durable options.

Amethyst is particularly well suited to earrings, pendants, dress rings and statement jewellery.

Garnet

When people hear the word garnet, they often think immediately of a dark red gemstone.

In reality, the garnet family offers far more variety.

Natural garnets occur in colours including red, orange, yellow, green, purple and combinations of these tones.

Different varieties include pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular and andradite, among others.

Some of the most beautiful and desirable garnets are not red at all.

Tsavorite Garnet

Tsavorite is a vibrant green variety of grossular garnet.

Fine tsavorite can display an intense green colour that provides a very different alternative to emerald.

Unlike emerald, tsavorite is generally not associated with routine clarity enhancement by oiling.

Demantoid Garnet

Demantoid is a green variety of andradite garnet renowned for its exceptional dispersion — the separation of white light into spectral colours or "fire."

Fine demantoid can be rare and highly prized.

Is Garnet Suitable for Everyday Jewellery?

The hardness of garnet varies depending on the particular variety, generally falling around 6.5–7.5 on the Mohs scale.

For this reason, the specific type of garnet and intended jewellery design should be considered before choosing it for everyday wear.

Natural Doesn't Always Mean Untreated

This is one of the most important principles to understand when buying coloured gemstones.

A gemstone can be:

Natural and untreated
Natural and treated

Both are natural gemstones because they formed within the earth.

Treatment refers to something that happened to the gemstone after it was mined.

Treatments can range from long-established practices such as heating certain gemstones to more substantial forms of enhancement.

The presence of treatment does not automatically make a gemstone undesirable.

What matters is what treatment has been performed, whether it has been properly disclosed, whether it affects durability or care, and whether it has been appropriately reflected in the gemstone's value.

When Is Independent Certification Important?

Not every coloured gemstone requires an expensive laboratory report.

For a modestly priced amethyst or aquamarine, for example, the cost of obtaining a major international laboratory report may not always be justified.

As the rarity and value of a gemstone increase, however, independent laboratory documentation becomes increasingly important.

This is particularly relevant when a gemstone is being sold on the basis of claims such as:

Natural and untreated
No indications of heating
A particular geographic origin
A rare variety or colour designation
A particular type or degree of treatment

For significant gemstones, an appropriate independent laboratory report can provide important information about exactly what you are purchasing.

Depending on the gemstone and circumstances, internationally recognised laboratories may include organisations such as GIA, Gübelin Gem Lab, SSEF and AGL, among others.

A laboratory report identifies and describes the gemstone and reports the laboratory's findings. It should not be confused with a monetary valuation.

Which Gemstones Are Best for Everyday Wear?

The Mohs scale is useful when comparing resistance to scratching, but hardness is not the only consideration when choosing a gemstone for everyday jewellery.

The gemstone's toughness, cleavage, inclusions, treatments, setting and the lifestyle of the wearer also matter.

As a general guide:

Gemstone	Approx. Mohs Hardness	Everyday Ring Wear
Diamond	10	Excellent
Ruby	9	Excellent
Sapphire	9	Excellent
Spinel	8	Very Good
Aquamarine	7.5–8	Good, with care
Morganite	7.5–8	Good, with care
Emerald	7.5–8	Requires Care
Tourmaline	7–7.5	Requires Care
Amethyst	7	Requires Care
Garnet	6.5–7.5	Depends on Variety
Tanzanite	6–7	Greater Care Required

This table is a guide rather than a guarantee of durability. Even a very hard gemstone can be damaged if struck in the wrong way.

Choosing a Natural Gemstone

Choosing a coloured gemstone should begin with something very simple:

Which stone do you love?

Colour is incredibly personal.

Once you have found a gemstone that appeals to you, we can then consider its quality, durability, treatments, rarity, certification and suitability for the jewellery you want to create.

This is particularly important with natural-coloured gemstones because no two stones are exactly alike.

The inclusions, colour variations and individual characteristics that formed within the earth are part of what makes each gemstone unique.

The Dream Diamonds Approach

At Dream Diamonds, we don't believe choosing a gemstone should simply be about selecting a stone from a catalogue.

We can source natural-coloured gemstones individually and help you understand what you are looking at — including colour, quality, durability, treatment, rarity and certification where appropriate.

With more than 40 years of experience in diamonds, gemstones and jewellery manufacturing, we can then design and manufacture a piece of jewellery around the gemstone you select.

Sometimes the design comes first.

But with an extraordinary natural gemstone, sometimes the stone should come first — and inspire everything that follows.