Need advice with gemstones

[UltimaBahamut93]

I'm designing a magic and pantheon system around color. The Goddess of Life (represented as a white diamond) split herself into seven divine beasts, each one representing a color of the rainbow. I want each beast to have a sacred gemstone. So red will be Ruby, Blue will be Sapphire, and green is Emerald. But I'm having trouble with orange, yellow, indigo, and violet. Trying to research what would be the "definitive" gemstone for these colors is more challenging than I thought. A lot of these gemstones are associated with several other colors too (as opposed to something like Sapphire which can technically be several different colors, we almost exclusively associate it with blue).

So, what gemstones would you say would be mostly associated with orange, yellow, indigo, and violet?

 

[Devor]

Citrine = Orange. Amethyst = Violet. Those names specifically refer to orange and violet shades of Quartz-based gemstones.

Topaz once upon a time referred to any yellow gemstone, but today refers to a specific gemstone that isn't yellow. That's why it means the yellow one in the Zelda games though. I'm not totally sure what color you mean by Indigo if blue is already Sapphire.

 

[skip.knox]

There's a plethora of associations because it's all just made up anyway. So, feel free to make up your own! What kinds of powers does the story need? What kinds of stones would you like to associate with those? Feel free to make up new kinds of stones, too.

 

[pmmg]

Plenty of charts like this on the internet, some even come with their mystical meanings.

 

[Queshire]

I like Topaz for yellow.

 

[Insolent Lad]

I have four similar mystic gems that pop up throughout my fantasy novels, corresponding to the four classic elements. I chose to name the golden one topaz, though it is infrequently named at all and usually referred to as the Earth Stone.

 

[Prince of Spires]

pmmg You're no fun, posting a definitive answer to the question. Now we can't give any conflicting and confusing advice anymore....

If you want to go a lot deeper down the rabbit hole, the Natural History Museum in London has a vast collection of minerals (Like 500.000 pieces large). Which is searchable and includes plenty of pictures. Check Mineralogy collections (and click on the Search for a Specimen button).

One thought to add to the wonderful chart our resident dragon posted, diamonds come in plenty of colors. You could have a system where each divine beast gets its own magical gemstone, but you also have colored diamonds as a sort of upgraded version of that gemstone. And of course the infamous black diamond...

 

[UltimaBahamut93]

So I'm thinking Indigo will be Tanzanite and Violet is definitely Amethyst. Yellow and Orange is where I'm stumped.

Looking at images of Citrine gemstones, they mostly appear yellow. And Amber seems to be more orange. It's still a little hard because there can be a lot of overlap but looking at several different pages of images and comparing the two, I think that Citrine for yellow and Amber for orange seems to be the "best" I can come up with. Thoughts on that? (And also if you think Tanzanite makes for a good Indigo gem)

 

[CupofJoe]

I have a soft spot for the Opal. It can come in just about any colour [usually more than one at once] and often changes those colours as move it around

 

[Ishra-Na]

Plenty of charts like this on the internet, some even come with their mystical meanings.

Learning something new every day. I never knew you could get Yellow Sapphires.

 

[pmmg]

@pmmg You're no fun, posting a definitive answer to the question. Now we can't give any conflicting and confusing advice anymore....

This is so true. I took all the fun away. I will confess, sometimes I do wonder why not just go on google and look it up, but that leaves nothing for all the rest of us to do. Please disregard my post.

Orange--Citrine
Violet- Amethyst
Indigo - Lapis Lazuli
Yellow - Well, I dont like just saying yellow diamond, cause that's a diamond really, but Zirconia? Who cares? Maybe Amber?

 

[tenebrae]

Ah, somewhere I may be able to offer advice. My 15 year old is a crystal/stone aficionado.
What I've learned by listening to her:
Orange = spessartine
Yellow = Citrine
Indigo = tanzanite
Violet = amethyst

 

[pmmg]

I feel I should mention Topaz as the yellow stone, cause I think that is the one most video games use for a yellow gemstone. It comes in many colors, in the chart above its blue, but often I see it as yellow.

 

[Devor]

The thing with Tanzanite is the name. Tanzanite is found in the African country of Tanzania. For me the real world reference is too strong.

I mentioned the deal with Topaz above. It originally referred to gemstones from one region which were probably Peridot, then came to refer to any yellow gemstone, but today refers to a specific gemstone that often isn't yellow. I figure if that's enough for Zelda to use Topaz, it's good enough for me.

 

[JBCrowson]

Citrine = Orange. Amethyst = Violet. Those names specifically refer to orange and violet shades of Quartz-based gemstones.

Topaz once upon a time referred to any yellow gemstone, but today refers to a specific gemstone that isn't yellow. That's why it means the yellow one in the Zelda games though. I'm not totally sure what color you mean by Indigo if blue is already Sapphire.

Topaz changes colour with heat (a few gemstones do) these days people generally prefer the blue colour so yellow topaz is commonly heated to turn it blue and make it more valuable.
I'd be tempted to go with
red - ruby
orange - citrine or Kuntzite (named after the gemologist that founded Tiffany's it's a subtle orange to salmon pink coloured gem)
yellow - topaz or citrine
green - peridot (I just prefer the green of peridot to that of emerald)
blue - aquamarine
indigo - sapphire or Tanzanite (this looks different colours depending on which angle you view it from blue to indigo)
violet - amethyst

If you are OK with semi-precious gems
you can have amber for yellow, lapis lazuli for indigo.

 

[JBCrowson]

Learning something new every day. I never knew you could get Yellow Sapphires.

any carborundum gem that is not red is a sapphire, the red ones are always rubies. Sapphires can be pink, yellow, green, clear
Diamonds can be red, blue, green, yellow, brown, black. Red are generally held to be the most valuable coming in at around $50 million per carat
The lovely colours essentially come from impurities - traces of a variety of other atoms or ions that get stuck in the crystal as it forms.

 

[skip.knox]

So I'm thinking Indigo will be Tanzanite and Violet is definitely Amethyst. Yellow and Orange is where I'm stumped.

Looking at images of Citrine gemstones, they mostly appear yellow. And Amber seems to be more orange. It's still a little hard because there can be a lot of overlap but looking at several different pages of images and comparing the two, I think that Citrine for yellow and Amber for orange seems to be the "best" I can come up with. Thoughts on that? (And also if you think Tanzanite makes for a good Indigo gem)

It's worth keeping in mind that some non-trivial segment of your readership is either not going to know what citrine is (or tanzanite or any of a dozen other gems), or will have the wrong idea but will *think* they know. If the stone figures into the story in any significant way, you'll be describing it anyway. So again, feel free to take liberties.

 

[Super Fantasy]

You could use "make believe" gemstones as well perhaps

 

[Ishra-Na]

any carborundum gem that is not red is a sapphire, the red ones are always rubies. Sapphires can be pink, yellow, green, clear
Diamonds can be red, blue, green, yellow, brown, black. Red are generally held to be the most valuable coming in at around $50 million per carat
The lovely colours essentially come from impurities - traces of a variety of other atoms or ions that get stuck in the crystal as it forms.

I find gemstones fascinating mainly because I never really understood the reason such value is put on them. It is possible to create faux gemstones of any colour which are indistinguishable to the eyes of the ordinary person so why waste money on the real thing unless it is for investment purposes. I have an extensive jewellery collection all made with "alternative" stones, materials and what are referred to as semi-precious stones. My favourite are made with meteorites and fossils, which I much prefer to anything found in "normal" jewellery shops. I also love Malachite, Obsidian and Picture Jasper. I'm all for impurities and imperfections...

 

[JBCrowson]

I find gemstones fascinating mainly because I never really understood the reason such value is put on them. It is possible to create faux gemstones of any colour which are indistinguishable to the eyes of the ordinary person so why waste money on the real thing unless it is for investment purposes. I have an extensive jewellery collection all made with "alternative" stones, materials and what are referred to as semi-precious stones. My favourite are made with meteorites and fossils, which I much prefer to anything found in "normal" jewellery shops. I also love Malachite, Obsidian and Picture Jasper. I'm all for impurities and imperfections...

I know what you mean with the idea that some of the semi precious or non precious gemstones can be really beautiful. Ammonite and dark opals are two I love for their irridescence and constantly shifting appearance, but the patterning in malachite or lace agate can also be amazing.