Blue is the most widely used gemstone color in jewelry. You could choose from a large number of blue colored gemstones, which ranges from familiar blue chalcedony to precious blue diamonds. According to a color psychology perspective, blue color represents power, gravity, depth, calmness, knowledge, and stability. This color also stands for trust, faith, truth, and confidence.
It does not matter whether you believe in those or not, blue gemstones are still capable of luring you because they simply look gorgeous in all different textures, shades, or vividness. All these reasons make blue the most popular color in the world of gemstones. As a matter of fact, the iconic engagement ring of Princess Diana, which is worn by Kate Middleton now, features a great blue Ceylon sapphire. The following are some of the most recognized blue gemstones used in jewelry.
Blue Diamond
Among all the colored diamonds the blue diamonds are the rarest and the most pricey. The gemstone receives its elegant blue color from the presence of boron content during the formation of the stone. At the same time, blue diamonds exhibit the same properties as that of the normal colorless diamonds, having an outstanding fire and brilliance, and staying at 10 on Mohs’ scale of mineral hardness. The diamonds also showcase their property for extreme scratch resistance, but they are relatively kind of brittle. Hence, some of the natural blue diamonds could break when it comes up against hard knocks.
There are also a variety of shades in blue diamonds, Fancy Deep is regarded as the best of all. You could also notice some tints of green in blue diamonds at times, which are priced a bit lower for their color “blemish”. If you have your heart set on a blue diamond, but still unable to afford one, then the better affordable alternative of it would be the synthetic and treated variations of blue diamonds.
Aquamarine
The term aquamarine actually relates to the sea blue color of this stone. This gemstone is well known for its distinguishable pastel blue color that enkindles a sense of relaxation and calmness to the soul. Together with its distant relatives, emerald and morganite, aquamarine is also a member of the beryl family. This relatively hard gemstone has a Mohs hardness rating of 7.5 through 8, and is usually found in good clarity. The gemstone is also fairly tough that it would not easily break with usual bumps.
Aquamarine also has a vitreous gleam, and it would reflect the light very well when it is faceted properly. The Vivid Blue stone variety is regarded as the most valuable among all the different color variants of aquamarine. However, most of the aquamarine gemstones that are available on market are treated with heat in order to enhance its color.
Blue Sapphire
Blue sapphire is a very popular and well sought after gemstone for making the centerpiece of the engagement rings. Although sapphires comes in numerous colors, blue is the most admired one among the others. The stone gets its color from tints of titanium and iron that are present in it during its formation.
The blue sapphires having the tints of purple are much more valuable when compared to those having the tints of green in them. It is the second hardest gemstone used in jewelry after diamond, with a Mohs hardness rating of 9. Yet again, sapphire is actually tougher than diamonds when it comes to breaking and chipping of the stone.
It is true that blue sapphires are less expensive when compared to diamonds, but they still could be a bit costly for an average person. However, the synthetic versions of the stone are affordable.
Blue Topaz
Blue topaz is another one of those most popular blue gemstones. Most of the time, topaz naturally occurs in nature as colorless stones, which are then treated with heat for creating lovely shades of blue. These gemstones are widely available in the market and are used in all kinds of jewelry.
Blue topaz is usually an affordable piece of gemstone for jewelry. At the same time, it is very much durable and has a Mohs hardness rating of 8. This incredible gemstone is most usually free from all visible inclusions and exhibits a transparent luster.
Blue Tourmaline
There are two varieties of blue tourmaline: indicolite tourmaline and Paraiba tourmaline. Paraiba tourmaline comes in vivid and radiant blue color, while indicolite tourmaline comes in light to dark shades of blue, sometimes even in blue to green shades.
Blue tourmaline is very rare, and hence, found in very small sizes that probably would even go below one carat. Most of the time, this gemstone comes with tints of green in it; nevertheless, a pure blue stone is highly desired and extremely valuable. Blue tourmaline has the Mohs hardness rating of 7 through 7.5. So it is also a tough and durable stone, and would last for a long time when cared very well.