My Favorite Color Combos

Going gem shopping, for me, isn't only about chasing down the nicest and most unusual gems.  It can also be about finding colors that work well with my designs or my other gems.  I get very exited when I find a bright 1.2mm melee gem that still pops, like the amethyst I recently added to some of my designs.  Amethyst may not be an exiting stone, but having purple melee IS exciting.

So one thing I'll be looking for, both in Tucson and other upcoming shows, is more melee for my halos, petals, and earrings that take smaller gems.  I'm also going to look for gem colors that complement the colors I love.

Here are some color layouts I have been playing with that I really like.  The first shows some possible layouts for my nine stone ring, using zircon, tanzanite chrysoberyl and tsavorite.  The second is a mix of four different color sapphires, a mint, a tsav, and a tourmaline.

Tsavorite, Zircon, Tanzanite, Chysoberyl

Sapphire, Tsavorite, Mint Garnet, Tourmaline

Another interesting color to work with is purple.  I like seeing it with greens or pinks.  The first layout pairs a tanzanite with color change garnets, then two sapphires, then with hauynite and rhodolite.  Then I added spinel and then purple sapphire and alexandrite.

Tanzanite and Color Change Garnet

Tanzanite and Sapphire

Tanzanite, Hauynite and Rhodolite

Spinel, Purple Garnet and Tanzanite

Unheated Tanzanite, Alexandrite, Purple Sapphire

And here is a pretty blue, green, and purple combo that I recently made.  This is spinel, emerald and amethyst. Then Tsavorite garnet and Zircon. And more...

Spinel, Emerald, Amethyst

Tsavorite, Zircon

Zircon and Mint Garnet (or was it emerald?)

Zircon and Demantoid

Burmese spinel are also a fun design challenge.  Aside from yellow, you can add a chrysoberyl or a minty stone (I think that was a lighter Paraiba).

Spinel and Paraiba

Spinel And Chrysoberyl

Or you can go all out and mix every color. Can you guess what they are?