Help me learn about color

On my monitor it looks green with grey and yellow tones.  Not sure I''d call this one minty though.

I''m not fabulous with color.  I always think Chrono or Mrs Rae have a better eye.  I would describe it as Green with strong yellow tones.

I wouldn''t consider it minty because not there''s enough blue and too much yellow. 


Isn''t there some sort of chart somewhere with all this on it?


Some of the lighter stones can throw me for a loop if my eyes don''t see enough green in them.

-A

I have to agree with the others.  This appears on the screen to have more yellow/grey undertones which makes it warmer.  But the grayish background could also be bringing out those warmer undertones.  To me, minty is a cool color. 

Regardless of the color description though, I like it.  It reminds me of the caribbean.  Sometimes the water looks more green than blue.  Actually, now that I''m taking a longer look at it I am seeing some blue & turquoise (spelling?).  All very nice!

Are you looking for a specific green color?

I am so so so bad in colors!!! Would be great if there is a color chart somewhere or some sites with good pictures to define the colors..... a "Gem colors for dummy" would be great!! Thanks!

I consider minty color to be a  GIA gemset of bluish green (bG) 2/2 to 2/4 (2/4 being the most desirable).  Check it out on the free gemewizard.com site.

Date: 10/7/2009 8:54:44 PM
Author: GoodSoul
I am so so so bad in colors!!! Would be great if there is a color chart somewhere or some sites with good pictures to define the colors..... a ''Gem colors for dummy'' would be great!! Thanks!

gemewizard.com free tool

Thanks TL!

This is one of those stones where I first I thought "yellowish green", but the more I looked at it, the more I thought I saw some bluish in there too. But that doesn''t make sense does it? Can you have blue and yellow? Doesn''t that just make green? Haha.

Date: 10/7/2009 9:34:42 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
Thanks TL!

This is one of those stones where I first I thought 'yellowish green', but the more I looked at it, the more I thought I saw some bluish in there too. But that doesn't make sense does it? Can you have blue and yellow? Doesn't that just make green? Haha.

That's because tourmaline is a dichroic stone, and along one axis in the rough it would be yellowish green, and the other axis, bluish green, and the lapidary probably cut it in such a way to expose the yellow and blue components of both axis'.  I have such a piece of Afghan tourmaline rough that is a true bluish green mint color in one axis and more of a yellow green in the other. 

Oops, I should have noted in the first post that it''s a garnet.

Weird, maybe it''s me or my monitor, but I just don''t see a lot of yellow in this stone. I do see a bit of a gray undertone. I personally WOULD call it minty. But I guess I''m wrong! Love the color though.

Date: 10/7/2009 9:41:38 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
Oops, I should have noted in the first post that it's a garnet.

thought it was a garnet.
I see green, some yellow and a lil blue.
I do see some grey - but I wonder whether its extinction and not a mask/undertone?

either way, I think its pretty and has potential but need more pics MTG, or a chat with the vendor. As we know, some pics just aren't representative at all!

I wasn''t particularly actively considering it, I just thought the color was interesting, and tricky to describe. I found it weird to be seeing both blue and yellow (or at least I think I see them both...)

I have a garnet like that with blue, yellow and green all mixed in. 

pretty stone, and I would have thought it borderline minty myself.

Date: 10/7/2009 10:41:34 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I have a garnet like that with blue, yellow and green all mixed in.

Pics anywhere TL?

Yeah, for some reason I always thought green would have either a secondary blue or secondary yellow, but I guess there can be both? Or am I not using the word secondary correctly?

Date: 10/7/2009 10:51:55 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade

Date: 10/7/2009 10:41:34 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I have a garnet like that with blue, yellow and green all mixed in.

Pics anywhere TL?

Yeah, for some reason I always thought green would have either a secondary blue or secondary yellow, but I guess there can be both? Or am I not using the word secondary correctly?

Here you go, and you can clearly see the green, yellow and blue.  2.8 ct grossular garnet.

Date: 10/7/2009 10:51:55 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade

Date: 10/7/2009 10:41:34 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I have a garnet like that with blue, yellow and green all mixed in.

Pics anywhere TL?

Yeah, for some reason I always thought green would have either a secondary blue or secondary yellow, but I guess there can be both? Or am I not using the word secondary correctly?

Green is made up of blue and yellow, so if there''s more blue we talk (when gems are the subject) about a blue undertone, and if there''s more yellow about a yellow undertone.

I wonder how this stone would look on a white background, and I feel like it could look more minty in such a photo. To me minty doesn''t have any grey, so if grey in this stone is the result of a grey background I''d say it could really be minty. There is a blue component and very little yellow. HERE is what Palagems describes as a mint colored garnet (7+ cts).

First:

define your terms:

Color divides into three components: hue, saturation and tone. Definitions can be found in my book or on any site that deals with color science.

Second:

Which color (hue): The body color or the key color.

Key color, the color of the brilliance or sparkle, is the defining color when talking about the color of a gem.

Third:

Precision:

Colors (hues) divide into primary and secondary and sometimes tertiary: Is it a slightly bluish green or a 90% primary green with about 10% blue. Train yourself to be precise.

Hope that helps!

The garnet appears to be a primarily green, but cut so that both the yellow and blue component are showing at the same time.  There are also hints of some gray on my monitor.  However, based on the medium-ish tone, it isn’t something that is minty to me.

If it's a Namibian demantoid, they tend to color shift to a more olive color in certain lighting, so that's something to be aware of.  My stone is a grossular garnet, and therefore a different type of green garnet.  Just something to note if you're using my stone to judge this one by. 

Thanks TL! It''s a beautiful garnet you have there

I feel like the best (maybe only) way to learn to describe color is to practice and compare notes with the experts (i.e. you guys!) to see if you''re getting it right. Thanks for the help and input!

Thanks MTG,
It''s really the exact color of honeydew melon, but a little deeper in colr than that.  In some lighting, it does go more minty. 

TL is correct; it is a Namibian garnet as it does shift colors quite dramatically and also depending on the light type you will get different dominants; its dispersion is awesome and also throws another monkey-wrench into the equation as when you see red, yellow, blue, etc., coming off the gem it will definitely play with your mind as to what the dominant color is at that particular moment.

Aren''t colored gems fun

I love that stuff; crazy stones like that almost need to be viewed culet up on white paper to make sure you are not getting false signals of color through the scintillation and refraction of light; plus all the dispersion...

Gems like that one are not for the faint of heart to determine color unless you set some ground rules for types of lighting.

Great stone though...

In my opinion it is 70 percent green, 20 percent yellow and 10 percent blue...  Just joking it is more green than any other color in the spectrum. but nice and bright and lively