Orange — often underestimated and overlooked by consumers — is taking the design and fashion world by storm. Good news for jewelry hounds: each and every type of orange hue is present in oodles of extraordinary, natural, gemstones.
Orange Gemstones and Orange Jewelry: Big Range in Price and Hue
In terms of price, beautiful orange gems range from downright cheap to astronomically expensive. Like all colored gemstones, value is determined by popularity. But also, a gem's age and condition, its source, rarity, and availability come into play.
To ensure your gem is all-natural, or that treatments are disclosed, purchase from a reputable dealer or collector. For significant purchases, a report rom the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is recommended to ensure authenticity. A fine orange gem should be of good weight for its face-up size, and should not not show lifeless, dark, or clear areas. Washed-out gems are undesirable as well. Examine a stone or jewelry from all angles... you want color!
Whether you shop for fashion jewelry du-jour, a fine investment gemstone, or the quintessential heirloom jewel, there are all sorts of interesting and attractive orange gems to fit your budget. Consider this list of faceted gemstones to start you on your way to orange bliss:
Orange Diamond: Most Durable, Quite Rare and Pricey
Diamond is a fabulous gemstone not only because of its bright, sparkly appearance, but also because it is most durable of all stones (tough and hard, it's rated 10 on the Mohs hardness scale). Diamond gems come in all sorts of colors, called fancies, as well as colorless and near-colorless stones.
A quality, natural, Fancy orange diamond is a sight to behold. And, the color orange in diamond is extremely rare. More often than not, a Fancy orange diamond is a dark and more complex hue, tinted by brown or grey. Although a complex orange can make an extremely gorgeous gemstone, the most saturated orange color is most valued (less tint means more pure, "saturated" color). Due to its scarcity, a Fancy orange diamond is a very expensive stone, especially a diamond of size.
In the Diamond Essentials guide, published by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the authors write, "Fancy-colored diamonds can be more valuable than diamonds of little or no color." The guide adds that a ring-mounted 5.54-ct Fancy Vivid orange diamond sold for "an astounding $1,322,500" at auction. By comparison,"At the same auction, a 28.00-ct near-colorless diamond sold for $745,000."
Fancy Sapphire: Orange and Padparadscha Varieties, Both Highly Desirable
Made from aluminum oxide, sapphire, or corundum, is the next hardest stone type (Mohs 9) after diamond. It makes for an extremely durable and beautiful gemstone in any color. Pure, orange sapphire is not as popular as well-known blue sapphire. However, a quality orange sapphire gem is delightfully appealing and can be quite pricey.
Displaying a mix of pink and orange hues, very rare padparadschda sapphire is near the top of the list for desirable (and expensive) collector/jewelry gemstones. According to GIA's Colored Stone Essentials, pricing for a padparadscha sapphire can be as "exotic as the color itself." Only the most experienced gem professionals can navigate a market "where sapphires showing the slightest pink or orange might be offered as padparadschas," warns the guide. "Generally, the color in the finest padparadschas is an intense pinkish orange hue."
Orange Garnet: Hessonite, Spessartite, Coveted Malaya and Mandarin... Fanta, Anyone?
Garnets are group of several mineral species, some of which are used as gemstones. Garnets are old and well-known gems, and overall, they are considered to be excellent jewelry stones that are easily cut and take a beautiful polish (Mohs 7 to 7.5). Many consider the "ultimate orange" gem to be in the garnet group.
Popular hessonite grossular garnet, composed of calcium aluminum silicate, was used long ago by Greeks and Romans for jewelry. Often appearing orange-brown, due to manganese and iron, hessonite garnet has "swirls of inclusions" that give stones a "honeylike appearance," according to Cally Hall in her book Gemstones (published by Smithsonian).
Originally considered a reject color, African dealers call reddish orange garnets malaya (or malaia) which means "outcast" in Swahili. According to Renée Newman in Exotic Gems Volume 2 (International Jewelry Publications) malaya garnet is classified as pyrope-spessartine and ranges in color from reddish orange, to pinkish orange, yellowish orange, to light brown. She writes, "Imperial garnet and imperial malaya are two terms used for pink or pink-orange pyrope spessartines."
Made of maganese aluminum silicate, the spessartite type of garnet, known by some as spessartine, is an orange-lovers dream gem. Relatively unknown and rare until the 1990s, spessartite is new on the gem scene. However, finest specimens are highly regarded as gem and collectible stones. Hall describes gem-quality spessartite as "uncommon." Bright orange when pure, she writes in Gemstones, an increase in iron makes the stone darker.
Purest tangerine-orange spessartite, described by gem lovers as resembling the bright orange hue of Fanta soda, is known as "mandarin" garnet. Mandarin garnet is considered by many to be the quintessential, ultimate orange gemstone in terms of color. In Exotic Gems Volume 2, Newman writes, "This garnet contains small colorless fibers, which creates a velvety texture and masks dark extinction areas, making the stone appear completely orange."
Fire Opal, Cherry Opal and Jelly Opal: What's in a Name?
Sometimes confused with garnet, fire opal is very "sensitive to every stress," according to Walter Schumann in, Gemstones of the World (Sterling). To that end, fire opals (rated Mohs 5 to 6-1/2, with very poor to fair toughness, according to the GIA) are recommended as pendant and earring stones. If set as ring gems, opals do best if set carefully in protective mountings.
Fire opal sourced from Mexico is known for flaming red or orange body color with red flashes. Red or orange opal from Oregon is called fire opal because of its play-of-color characteristics. Some call bright orange or red opal without flashes or color-play cherry opal. Colorless opal with play-of-color is known as jelly opal. Whatever you call it, the best of this gem type is stunning material.
In Gemstone Buying Guide (International Jewelry Publications), Renée Newman writes, "The most valued fire opal is reddish orange, transparent, and has a play-of-color within the stone." In Exotic Gems Volume 2, Newman dedicates an entire chapter to fire opal and addresses the confusing nature regarding which characteristics make a gem true "fire opal," as well as how to identify natural vs. synthetic and imitation opal.
Topaz: Orange and Imperial Gems Make Excellent Jewels
The name topaz may have originated from the Sanskrit word for fire, tapas. According to Karen Hurrell and Mary L. Johnson in Gemstones (Metro Books), "This is a durable, beautiful gemstone, perfect for jewelry."
Topaz is one of the hardest gems in the world, rated Mohs 8, and it is the hardest in the silicate family of minerals. Occurring in several colors, topaz, made from aluminum silicate fluoride and/or hydroxide, appears orange when there is chromium present along with color centers.
According to the GIA, "Imperial topaz is a trade name for stones with a medium reddish orange to orangey red hue." Hurrell and Johnson contend that Imperial topaz is the most valuable of the topaz group.
Beautiful and Unusual: Rare Orange Spinel and Coveted Flame Spinel
Spinel, made from magnesium aluminum oxide (Mohs 8), comes many colors — including the more difficult to find orange hues. The GIA says that "spinel is a hard, tough stone that's suitable for daily wear in any type of jewelry. It will always be popular for customers who like beautiful and unusual gems."
Acccording to Cally Oldershaw's Guide to Gems (Firefly Books ) orange-red spinel is also known as rubicelle. Rubicelle was a more popular term in the past than it is these days.
Most coveted is the spectacular vivid orange-red spinel that is called flame spinel. In his book, Secrets of the Gem Trade (Brunswick House Press), gem connoisseur Richard W. Wise writes,"'Flame spinel,' a red stone with a distinct orange secondary hue, is second to red in overall availability and price. In fact, it is the rare spinel that does not show some admixture of orange." He continues, "The orange secondary hue can be prominent, usually between fifteen to fifty percent of the total hue. The distinctive color of flame spinel is found in no other gemstone."
Citrine: Popular Like Topaz
Citrine is natural yellow or orange quartz and is very similar in appearance to topaz. Most citrine is yellowish brown; however according to Karen Hurrell and Mary L. Johnson in Gemstones (Metro Books), "citrine whose colors have been produced by heating are often more deeply colored — with hues of orange and red — than the pale yellow of the natural stone. Rated Mohs 7, with good toughness, citrine makes a good jewelry stone.
Natural Zircon: Diamond-like Qualities
Natural zircon is another gem that comes in a variety of colors. According to Hurrell and Johnson, zircon (Mohs hardness 6-6.5) has refractive and dispersive qualities which make it comparable to diamond in terms of fire and brilliance. Along with its fabulous diamond-like fire and sparkle, zircon makes a good gemstone overall. However, a jewel may chip due to its brittleness, so it should be fashioned into jewelry that gives some protection.
Hurell and Johnson write, "Zircon is not uncommon, and it is a fairly inexpensive and attractive gemstone." In terms of popularity, orange zircon follows behind blue- and possibly red-colored zircon.
In Gemstone Buying Guide, Renée Newman says that in its natural state, orange zircon is often brownish or pale. "Heat treatment can intensify the color and reduce brown tints. To verify the colors are stable, dealers sometimes expose them for several days to the sun."
Orange Tourmaline: Hard to Find Color
According to Richard W. Wise, in his Secrets of the Gem Trade, despite the fact that tourmaline exists in just about every color, orange tourmaline is "exceedingly rare." He writes, "Most orange is tonally dark and appears brown. Tourmaline of this hue is beautiful in flavors darkening from mocha to chocolate."
Tourmaline is pleochroistic, meaning that a gem shows more than one color at a time. Because of this, finding a tourmaline of any color in a pure hue is quite difficult, if not nearly impossible. Finding a pure, orange-colored tourmaline gem would be a real coup.
In any color, incandescent lighting is tourmaline's enemy because the yellow lighting will muddy the stone's appearance and decrease transparency of the crystal, making whatever grey or brown mask that may be present (and somewhat hidden in daylight) appear in the harsh incandescent light. "Nightstones, gems that do not show this tendency, are the supernovas in the tourmaline universe," writes Wise.
Clinohumite: Rare Gem in Hands of Collectors
Clinohumite is an extremely rare gemstone. Arthur Thomas, in The Gemstones Handbook, writes, "Lively orange-yellow gems have been cut from facet rough that was mined from deposits in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan." With only a few known sources (others being in the Taymir region of Northern Siberia and Mahenge in Tanzania), most of the mined material remains in the hands of collectors.
Made of magnesuim silicate fluoride hydroxide, rated Mohs 6, the gem is pleochroistoic with colors ranging from brown, red, yellow and orange. The best yellow-orange specimens are noted for being very vibrant in color. For jewelry, special care is recommended due to the gem's not-so hardness and its overall brittleness. Only the finest specimens of clinohumite are known to be faceted, and since most fine gems remain with collectors, the faceted material is extremely hard to come by for use in jewelry.
To compliment your orange jewel, try pairing it with diamonds, or gorgeous green, red, yellow or blue colored gemstones.
Claire Eddins - Writer/editor, award-winning photographer Claire Eddins collects gems, horses, and obsesses over home, art, and design.
