Yellow Gemstones: Buying Guide
December 23, 2017
And, appropriately, a yellow gem, the Citrine, is the birthstone for November making it an excellent choice to lighten up the dreary, dark, sun-less days of that month. In addition to the Citrine, though, there are about 30 yellow gemstones, many of which you are undoubtedly familiar with and perhaps even have in your jewellery wardrobe.
And, as you might expect, they range in prices from the very expensive to the more affordable and while most are suitable for jewellery there are others that are considered collector’s stones only.
The Most Expensive Yellow Gemstones
Sitting in number 1 spot is the precious Yellow Diamond, the most common of all the Fancy Coloured diamonds. But being common does not mean cheap because these yellow beauties can and do command very high prices when their colour is vivid or intense, e.g., the vividly yellow Fancy Canary Diamond whose price tags can easily go into tens of thousands. This colour saturation comes from the intrusion of nitrogen – the most common impurity in diamonds – into the otherwise colourless diamond and can range from a pale yellow, to a medium yellow to the most desirable vivid or intense yellow.
Second in line and second only in hardness to the diamond is the Yellow Sapphire. Like the Yellow Fancy Canary Diamond, the Yellow Sapphire is also a precious gemstone which, as you might expect, carries a high price tag. But it is beautiful and to my mind even more desirable than the sapphire’s best-known colour blue.
Third in line in terms of value and also the third hardest of the precious stones is the Cymophane, more popularly known as the cat’s eye Chrysoberyl whose natural colour is a yellowish-green but when it occurs in strictly yellow it becomes a Cymophane, and it is the cat’s eye phenomenon with its iridescent lustre that makes this yellow gem so expensive and popular.
Less Expensive Yellow Gemstones
If your budget doesn’t quite stretch to a Fancy Yellow Canary Diamond you might consider a Yellow Zircon – not to be confused with cubic zirconia (CZ) the lab-created gemstone – which is often used as a substitute for a diamond because it sparkles like a diamond but is considerably less expensive due to its abundance in the earth’s crust.
Other choices in terms of affordability might be the Yellow Garnet; the Yellow Opal; the Yellow Agate; the Yellow Tourmaline though its yellow gems are very rare; Yellow Jasper; Yellow Jade (highly valued in China and New Zealand); Yellow Sunstone (e.g. Labradorite and Moonstone); Yellow Apatite (may also display the cat’s eye and give off an iridescent lustre); Yellow Sphene whose brilliance can exceed that of a diamond but lack the hardness of the diamond; Peridot whose natural colour ranges from a beautiful soft green to yellow-green yet is yellow enough to the human eye to pass for yellow gemstones;
Yellow Fluorite though common is rather soft so not widely used in jewellery except perhaps in pendants where they are less likely to be knocked about; Yellow Danburite, so named for the city of Danbury in the US where it was first discovered, the Yellow Danburite is a relative new-comer to the world of gems that is loved for its brilliance and transparent to translucent clarity, and Amber though not technically a true stone but rather the fossilized resin of evergreen trees preserved under high pressure. Yellow Amber is also warm to the touch and is more valuable when fossil inclusions are present but it will soften if subjected to intense heat.
As well, and this I’ve heard of only once on The Liquidation Channel, there is the Yellow Idocrase or more commonly known as Vesuvianite that was first discovered in Mount Vesuvius and later in the U.S. and Canada, Though more common in blue and green, it also occurs in yellow stones that are transparent to translucent in clarity and beautiful.
Collector’s pieces
Because of rarity, certain characteristics, hardness or lack thereof, some Yellow gemstones are best left unset as collector’s items. They are the extremely rare Yellow Spinel (mostly known for their red colour and sometimes substituted for rubies); the Scapolite (really a group of minerals that is characterized by long slender prisms), whose gem quality is known specifically as Marialite, also rare and mostly thought of as a collector’s stone; and the Yellow Sphalerite that can be set in pendants but also being soft is also best left unset as a collector’s stone.
If you are unfamiliar with any of these yellow gemstones, want more information about them, or just want to see them up close and personal maybe because you love yellow I suggest you contact Monika at LL Private Jewellers whose knowledge of all gemstones will surely impress.
Please for more information about yellow gemstones contact LL Private Jewellers at 604-684-6343.
