Sapphire
The name “sapphire” can also apply to any corundum that’s not ruby red, another corundum variety. Besides blue sapphire and ruby, the corundum family also includes so-called “fancy sapphires.” They come in violet, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and intermediate hues. Some stones exhibit the phenomenon known as color change, most often going from blue in daylight or fluorescent lighting to purple under incandescent light. Sapphires can even be gray, black, or brown.
Ruby
Ruby is the most valuable variety of the corundum mineral species, which also includes sapphire. Rubies can command the highest per-carat price of any colored stone. This makes ruby one of the most important gems in the colored stone market. In its purest form, the mineral corundum is colorless. Trace elements that become part of the mineral’s crystal structure cause variations in its color. Chromium is the trace element that causes ruby’s red color.
Emerald
Emerald is the bluish-green to green variety of beryl, a mineral species that includes aquamarine. Gem experts differ in the degree of green that makes one stone an emerald and another the less-expensive green beryl. Most gemologists, gemological laboratories, and colored stone dealers call a stone green beryl when its color is “too light” to be classified as emerald. However, even among that group, there’s a difference of opinion about what’s considered “too light.”
GIA Gem Encyclopedia
If you are interested in learing more about gemstones visit www.GIA.edu
Birthstones
