2021 Most Popular Gemstones – Gemstone Color of the Year
As is customary each year, Pantone has announced its colour of the year for 2021, and it is a mix of Ultimate Grey and Illuminating, a lovely yellow that will be the year’s most popular gemstone hue. According to their website, these two distinct hues demonstrate how various components or aspects may work together to aid one another while simultaneously failing us. A transparent attempt to acknowledge the ongoing difficulties that began last year and to look ahead to the future.
FROM PANTONE
“According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, their decision for 2021 is as follows”
The combination of a lasting Ultimate Grey and a vivid yellow Illuminating communicates a message of hope backed up by tenacity. Practical and unflinching, yet also warm and optimistic, this is a colour combination that instils us with perseverance and optimism. We require encouragement and elevation; this is necessary for the human soul.
This remark reaffirms Pantone’s commitment to spreading optimism for a better future and demonstrating how, when we work together, we can overcome any hurdle in our path. In this attitude of optimism and tenacity, Star Lanka has selected the gemstones and colour palette for the next year that best embody this message: Yellow Sapphire, Yellow & Grey Tourmaline, and Grey Spinel.
GEMSTONES OF THE YEAR
SAPPHIRE YELLOW
Yellow Sapphire is increasingly becoming a popular gemstone among jewellers due to the variety of colours available, ranging from pale lemon yellow to a rich, saturated, and vibrant yellow to a deep orangey-yellow. When it comes to valuing a yellow sapphire, colour is the most essential of the four C’s, with rich medium to medium dark tones being the most desirable. It also has a significant role in Vedic astrology, where the Persians believed it was a piece from the Earth’s pedestal. It is also the September birthstone.
Sapphires are mined in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), and the United States and are renowned for their beauty as engagement rings stones, particularly among celebrities. However, thanks to its hardness of 9 on the Moh scale, it can be worn as everyday jewellery, and would make an excellent complement to any outfit for 2021. You will most commonly find yellow sapphires cut into oval, round, cushion, or emeralds, due to the shape of the rough stone.
YELLOW TOURMALINE
Yellow Tourmaline is a member of the Tourmaline family of minerals, a group of minerals that exhibit a wide range of properties depending on the stone. They are extremely popular with jewellers and come in a wide variety of colours, including multi-coloured and zoned. However, our gaze is drawn to the yellow tourmaline.
Yellow tourmalines are cheaper than yellow sapphires, due to their availability. Don’t let their prices deceive you, they are still a very desirable stone. They have a hardness of 7-7.5 and may be worn as everyday wear, with caution, making the excellent day-to-day stone for this year to match greys and lighter coloured ensembles.
A surprising truth is that these jewels generate a scent. While you will not be able to smell it as the wearer, the cutter will, and cutters report that they like working with Yellow Tourmaline due of its pleasant aroma. They have an odour as a result of the rough stones being cleaned in hot water with lemon.
TOURMALINE GREY
Grey Tourmaline, like Yellow Tourmaline, is a member of the huge Tourmaline family. It, too, is suitable for daily use, as the great majority of tourmalines have a hardness of 7-7.5. Taking care of tourmalines, on the other hand, may need additional work because of their electrical qualities, which draw more dust than other stones. Fortunately, this dust will not do any damage other than the necessity for cleaning. Cleaning should be done with a soft cloth and some mild warm soapy water since ultrasonic or steam cleaning methods might harm the stone.
Tourmaline is found around the world, although the most well-known sources are Madagascar, Africa, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Additionally, they come in a range of distinct cuts, depending on the tourmaline family to which the stone belongs.
SPINEL GREY
Spinel has been used in jewellery since prehistoric times. However, the diamond did not receive the acclaim it deserved until lately. Prior to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the stones were simply referred to as Corundum, as they were discovered in the same mines. Despite this, these minerals are chemically distinct. As a result, some spinel stones were mislabeled as precious rubies and sapphires, thus impacting the spinel’s reputation. However, much has changed since then, and the stone has regained popularity.
Grey Spinel gemstones are available in a spectrum of colours, from gunmetal grey to steel grey and even a deep charcoal grey. They may exhibit hues of purple or blue tones, which add to the stone’s appeal. Additionally, it is one of the most popular gemstone hues, and with good reason; it is stunning.
Spinel, along with Peridot, is August’s birthstone. One of the world’s most renowned jewels, the “Black Princess Ruby,” which is housed in the English Royal Family’s Crown Jewels, is really a red spinel, not a ruby.
Burma, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka are all home to spinel gemstones. Their Mohs hardness of 8 makes them appropriate for everyday use and the appropriate compliment to your clothes for 2021, regardless of the season!
CONCLUSION
We conclude the piece with another remark from Pantone discussing their colour of the year selections for 2021. According to the authors, their pick “highlights our fundamental want to be seen, noticed, acknowledged, and to have our opinions heard.” Therefore, let us all make our voices known this year and wish for the best while wearing the year’s most popular gemstones.
Parti Sapphires: the Colored Gemstones for 2021
Rarely does the corundum family of jewels fail to dazzle. Parti sapphires, alternatively called polychrome sapphires, exhibit several colours in a single stone. Yellow and green are the most often used bicolor combo. Rarer stones with blue, purple, or lavender hues, as well as tricolour combinations, are particularly desirable. Recent gemstone trends may make engagement rings incorporating this interesting sapphire type the wedding season’s top score!
Gemstone Color Trends for 2021
Not long ago, classic favourites like diamonds, emeralds, and rubies had little competition as jewellery centre stones. Since then, a sea shift has occurred. Consumers are increasingly interested in the rarity and originality of gemstones, as well as their ethical origins. Color also plays a significant influence in determining a gem’s desirability in today’s market. As a result, more difficult-to-find coloured gemstones have become an intrinsic aspect of jewellery creation. They are frequently used as focal points.
Color tastes are very subjective and heavily influenced by current trends. Consider the impact of current colour trends on the market for parti sapphires.
“A Vibrant and Joyful Yellow”
The Pantone Color Institute has named Illuminating 13-0647 and Ultimate Gray 17-5104 as the year’s colour of the year for 2021. While grey represents strength, durability, and reliability, Illuminating is a “bright and cheery yellow” that represents the hope and optimism we should bring into the new year.
Yellow is typically found in classic bi- or tri-color parti sapphires. Indeed, yellow is such a distinguishing feature of Australian parti sapphires that every bi-colored sapphire mined in Australia with a predominant yellow tint is classified as parti. These gems are distinguished by their brilliant yellow appearance. (By comparison, the Montana parti sapphire has a more vibrant and open yellow tone.)
Regardless of their origins or precise hue, parti sapphires with yellow zones will continue to play a significant role in today’s market. Pantone is the world’s preeminent colour science institute. Their announcement is certain to rekindle interest in yellow. Additionally, many civilizations think that wearing a yellow sapphire bestows the person with wisdom, power, and equilibrium.
Gemstones with Multiple Colors
At the American Gem Trade Association’s (AGTA) 2020 GemFair, bi- and tri-colored stones emerged as worldwide colour palette trendsetters. In the next years, rare blue-green parti sapphires from Montana and Australia will be highly sought for. Custom cuts will be required to emphasise the colour zoning in these stones. This is entirely consistent with current consumer desire for distinctive-looking jewels.
Without a doubt, the year 2021 will be synonymous with parti sapphires.
Are Teal Sapphires Classified as Parti Sapphires?
Parti and teal sapphires are found in similar locations, most notably Australia and Montana. They can also exhibit green, yellow, and blue hues. As a result, they are occasionally confused. Mermaid sapphires, which are teal sapphires with a 50-50 ratio of blue and green hues, are sometimes mistaken for a variety of bi-colored gemstones.
Naturally, partis and teals are both sapphire varieties. The colours of a teal sapphire, on the other hand, mix together. By contrast, the hues of a parti sapphire do not bleed into one another. They are kept apart by a distinct partition, therefore the term “parti.” This is referred to as colour zoning. The distinctiveness of the hues is preserved in parti sapphires, since they do not blend into one another.
Are Parti-Sapphires Sapphires That Change Color?
Certain sapphires containing vanadium impurities exhibit colour variation under varied lighting conditions. Although certain parti-colored sapphires may exhibit minor colour change in each zone under varied lighting conditions, their overall appearance will stay consistent.
Additionally, keep in mind that colour zoning is not synonymous with pleochroism, another optical feature that sapphires exhibit. Certain sapphires exhibit a range of hues depending on the viewing angle. However, regardless of the viewing angle, a parti sapphire’s colour zones are all visible simultaneously.
Are Parti-Sapphires Appropriate for Ring Stones?
All sapphires have great wearability due to their physical qualities. Corundum gems, including sapphires and rubies, have the second highest Mohs hardness rating (9) of any natural gemstone. Only diamonds (10) are more brittle. This means that sapphires are extremely scratch resistant, which is a common hazard for any ring stone.
Additionally, sapphires lack cleavage, or internal planes along which a gemstone might fracture. This implies that sapphires are more resistant to chipping and fracturing than diamonds, which do have cleavage planes.
In contrast to other sapphire varieties, partis are completely natural and cannot be created in laboratories. You can be certain that your parti sapphire is genuine. Other sapphire varieties may receive coatings to enhance their colours, but these will eventually chip and fade. A parti sapphire’s colours will never fade.
Which Colors Are the Best for Parti Sapphires?
Color is the most critical factor in determining the value of any sapphire. Sapphires with partial inclusions are no exception.
While yellow and green colours are the most common parti-color combination, unusual gems with blue or purple zones are highly coveted.
Look for a medium-toned parti sapphire. A darker tone may obscure the boundary between the colour zones, whereas a lighter tone will wash out the colours. A parti sapphire with an intense, vivid saturation will command a premium.
Which Cut Is Best for Parti Sapphires?
While the colours of a parti sapphire are determined by Nature, the cut of the gemstone is a critical value factor that the faceter can control.
The cut determines the position of the barrier between the colour zones. This will have an effect on the stone’s ultimate aesthetic value. To create a more dramatic effect, faceters attempt to position the partition in the stone’s centre (of course, while trying to preserve carat weight). As a result, consumers will discover parti sapphires in an array of distinctive fancy cuts. No two partially coloured sapphires will appear identical.
Suggestions for Purchasing a Parti Sapphire
Choose a gemstone with a distinct partition in the centre.
A gemstone with a blue, violet, or lavender zone is more valuable than one with a yellow or green zone.
Due to the rarity of tri-color parti sapphires, they are slightly more expensive than bi-color sapphires.
Never be afraid to choose a parti sapphire with an uncommon fancy cut. It may be a genuine one-of-a-kind stone!
