Color Change

Color change is one of the classic gemstone “phenomena”. Some of these gems display a subtle color shift when exposed to different types of lighting such as daylight vs incandescent lighting. For example, a garnet that appears pinkish-red in daylight may look purplish-red in indoor lighting, but since red is the same basic hue it’s not considered a true color change. A true color change entails a change in the hue (think of the distinct colors in a rainbow – purple, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet). Examples include the green to purple change in an alexandrite chrysoberyl, or the blue to purple change that’s somewhat common in Ceylon sapphires. It’s thought that the elements vanadium or chromium play a role in most color change gems, causing a slight alteration to the gem's crystalline structure and thereby affecting the color absorption of the light transiting the gemstone. Besides chrysoberyl and sapphire, color change phenomena can sometimes be found in diaspore, spinel, garnet and tourmaline. We love color change - it's like two gems in one!