Coloring the Page: Precious Stones

For the last entry in the Color Thesaurus series, I thought it’d be fun to look at hues and descriptions for precious stones. These are great not only as descriptors, but as possible inspiration for stand-alone objects or trinkets in your story.

Agate: Fine grained and fibrous with color banding or irregular clouding; can occur in a variety of colors
Amethyst: Purplish to violet transparent quartz
Basalt: Volcanic rock, often has a gray porous appearance
Beryl: Pale green to olive yellow
Carnelian or Cornelian: Vibrant orangeish red
Chert: A milky white stone, sometimes with veins of rust or brown
Chrysoprase: Apple green gemstone
Diamond: Naturally colorless or white crystal
Emerald: Brilliant green beryl
Garnet: Usually a very dark rich red
Jacinth: A red to reddish orange
Jasper: Rusty brown
Onyx: Features a variety of color bands, from flesh-tone or white to pure black
Opal: Translucent, often milky gemstone with a variety of other colors within
Quartz: Hard and crystalline; can occur in a number of colors
Sapphire: Brilliant blue, sometimes approaching deep indigo
Sard: Deep orange red to brownish red
Sardonyx: Alternating reddish brown and white bands
Topaz: Often golden in appearance
Turquoise: Blue to greenish blue