Sapphires are not just Blue; Garnet is not only Red...

Most of those not in the gemstone business believe that Sapphire is Blue; Garnet is Red; and Tanzanite is a variation of Blue or Purple. The reality is that Sapphire can be all shades of blue, pink, orange, green, clear, purple, some can color change and can even be bi-colors like Tourmaline! The original Garnet finds were usually a dark unattractive Red, but Garnet actually comes in all colors except Blue (and that may only be a matter of time...). Garnet can be variations of red, orange, green, yellow, clear and even color changing varieties like Alexandrite exist. Tanzanite can also be found in yellows, greens, teals, pinks and variations including bi-colors. In the case of Tanzanite, one could use the mineral name Zoisite, which is the name of the mineral from which Tanzanite is faceted. In order not to confuse some people (including the trade!), calling the varieties of Tanzanite, Yellow, Green, Pink or Teal Zoisite, would still indicate that this is a sister stone to Tanzanite - a color variety of the same mineral as Tanzanite, but not the standard blue or purple one expects.

To have a better understanding of some of the color ranges of gemstones, visit the
All That Glitters Photo Gallery: http://www.atggems.com/Photo_Gallery.htm

To see unique colors of Sapphire, Garnet and Tanzanite visit the following pages:
http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Corundum.htm
http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Garnet.htm
http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Garnet-CC.htm
http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Spessartite.htm
http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Tanzanite.htm