Article Highlights
Gemologists usually assess a gemstone’s color by looking at its tone, hue, and saturation. Yellow gemstones exhibit a yellow hue as the primary color. The valuable gems bear a pure yellow hue, but some will still contain secondary hues. Secondary hues may appear in different colors in these gemstones, such as brown, orange, and green.
Green secondary hues are not that attractive, which makes the stone undesirable. Many people will prefer the orange secondary hues. Since these yellow gemstones have a lighter tone than other gems, their imperfections are easily seen. Some deposits may appear bearing dark or large inclusions, but these are not desirable by gemologists. However, these stones are perfect for jewelry such as earrings, pendants, necklaces, and much more.
Citrine
Citrine is the most common yellow gemstone with bright color and sold at affordable prices. The gemstone has a crystal-clear texture and a rather charming warm tone. Occurring in a light color, imperfections and impurities are easily visible. The gem is quite rare in nature, but Brazil is known for producing top-quality stones.
Citrine occurs in diverse shapes and sizes, even large carat sizes. With a hardness rating of 7 Mohs, these gemstones are ideal for stunning jewelry pieces such as necklaces, earrings, rings, and much more.
Yellow Sapphire
Yellow sapphires bring back the summer vibes due to the bright colors it exhibits. If you are looking for gorgeous and affordable yellow gemstones, then yellow sapphire should be in your mind. It is the ideal substitute for a yellow diamond and has several choices in cutting and color.
Yellow sapphire has recently been a top choice for rings, with the most popular shade being “Canary” which is a distinctive color. High-value yellow sapphires will have an intense and pure yellow color. The stones are majorly mined in Sri Lanka, but other sources include Australia, Madagascar, Thailand, and Tanzania.
Yellow Diamond
Yellow diamonds exhibit a vivid golden hue or a magnificent yellow color. These gemstones are more valuable than white diamonds since they are scarce and rare. Yellow diamond could be higher in price than the white diamond that bears the exact weight and quality. Yellow diamonds are rated from high to low as Fancy Vivid Yellow, Fancy Deep Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow. Fancy Yellow, Fancy Light Yellow.
The rarest stone of all these yellow diamonds is the Fancy Vivid Yellow. However, they make gorgeous jewelry and ornaments.
Yellow Zircon
Occurring in a wide array of colors, the zircon gemstone exhibits a phenomenal luster. The stone may appear in blue, red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, gray, colorless, white, and brown. With a hardness of 7 Mohs, these gemstones are ideal for jewelry and other decorative ornaments. The colorless deposits resemble a diamond, but it is cheaper.
This stone gives a splendid first impression, but you have to take good care of it. With time it darkens overexposure to sunlight, so you might want to consider it as evening jewelry wear.
Yellow Fire-Opal
Fire opals are famous for their elegant darker body or milky white tones and beautiful colors. These gemstones occur as translucent to transparent stones bearing a dominant orange, yellow or red tone. However, yellow is the most common and affordable gemstone of these fire opals deposits.
These gemstones are spectacular whether they are cut smooth or faceted and exhibit an incredible texture. Fire opals are relatively soft with a hardness rating of 5.5 Mohs, meaning they are not durable. The stone can easily chip or get scratched. Fire opals are not recommended for rings due to this flaw, but they make excellent pendants and earrings.
Yellow Cat’s Eye Opal
They are unusual and rare gemstones, and they are not easily found in gemstone stalls. The stone exhibits an impressive bar of light that looks cool. These gemstones are formed in millions of years from the hardening of silica gel in crevices and cracks. Cat’s eye opals are not made up of traditional crystal structure but contain countless tiny spheres.
These spheres are responsible for bouncing light, which causes an alluring display to make the gem valuable and popular. Typically, these stones will occur as golden honey gems but can also appear in cream, yellow and brown tones. Even though rare, the cat’s eye opal deposits are mined in Tanzania, Madagascar, Western Australia, Brazil, and the US.
Yellow Moss Opal
Just like cat’s eye opal, this gemstone does not exhibit the phenomenal play-of-color on the surface like other opals. The gemstone occurs in opaque and bears inclusions that look like leaves or moss hence the name moss opal. With a hardness of about 6.5 Mohs, the stone is relatively soft and can easily break when not handled carefully. This October stone is also used to make wondrous decorations due to its stunning beauty.
Golden Beryl (Heliodor)
The gemstone occurs in a lemon-yellow color. High-quality deposits are brighter and bear an intense color. Heliodor is a Greek word that means the ‘sun’. Golden Beryl is compared to the sun due to its dazzling colors. The gem is made up of materials that are also contained in aquamarine.
Golden beryl appears as a crystal clear and pure stone and has a pleasant feeling. It can be used to make outstanding jewelry pieces such as earrings.
Golden South Sea Pearls
This incredible gemstone bears an irresistible satiny surface and can grow large. They can occur with sizes up to 13 mm and could be the largest pearls discovered. However, keep in mind that they are expensive due to their rarity. Fortunately, they can undergo some treatment to be much more available. These beauties can make some shattering pieces of jewelry, such as earrings.
The gem is relatively soft with a rating of 2.5 Mohs, meaning it is easily scratched. Pearls have always been associated with class and sophistication. These gemstones make up less than 1% of the pearls available globally, showing how rare they are.
Yellow Tourmaline
Also regarded as a wish stone, yellow tourmaline is a gemstone that seems to absorb things and possesses intense energy. Discovered back in 1500 in Brazil by the Portuguese, the gem was given the name tourmaline since it was located at the rainbow’s foot. Yellow tourmaline is among the few stunning gemstones known as precious stones.
The others include sapphire, ruby, tanzanite, emerald, and aquamarine. These gemstones are highly valued and adored by many since they are excellent market values. Although this stone will occur in numerous colors, coming across the yellow one is quite rare. Most of the deposits you will come across will have inclusions and very costly due to their rarity. The yellow hues are a result of manganese in their structure.
Yellow Topaz
Topaz is a hard gemstone and occurs as a transparent gem. It bears splendid colors and an excellent reflective effect. Topaz comes from tapas, a Sanskrit word meaning fire due to the sparkling golden hues. Even though this gemstone is affordable and quite common, the Imperial Topaz is pretty rare and expensive. It occurs as a dark orange-yellow stone.
Yellow topaz occurs with a hardness rating of 8 Mohs, meaning it is perfect for everyday jewelry wear. When faceted, yellow topaz is a phenomenal stone that is quite eye-catching. It occurs in Saxony, Mexico, Brazil, Ural Mountains, and Japan.
Yellow Chrysoberyl
It is a rare stone occurring in diverse yellow tones from vivid to light. Yellow chrysoberyl is quite durable, with a ranking of 8.5 Mohs. It is also very tough and can make spectacular jewelry pieces. Even though the highly valuable and rare cat’s eye chrysoberyl and alexandrite belong to the same family as the yellow chrysoberyl, this stone is not as expensive since it is common.
The gem makes unique wedding rings because of its hardness, and when faceted, it produces an elegant sparkle.
Yellow Garnet
The garnet is a hard silicate mineral that occurs in different colors, but red is the most popular. Garnet was coined from pomegranate or Poma granatum since its seeds have a deep red shade that resembles the garnet. Garnet is relatively hard with a rating of around 7 Mohs. Even though this stone is not as hard, it can be used for abrasive purposes.
Garnets do not have any cleavages meaning they break into several irregular pieces when cut or damaged. Yellow garnets are used to manufacture incredible jewelry.
Yellow Jade
Jade is also referred to as an enigmatic jade. The gemstone can be either jadeite or nephrite. Any of the two minerals can occur as a yellow gem, but they have some differences in properties. Nephrite appears as an opaque stone and in large sizes. This mineral is mainly used for carving.
Jadeite is adored for its colored oil appearance and translucency. Its deposits are much smaller and often more expensive than the nephrite. Both minerals are tough and very hard. Yellow jade is quite eye-catching and can make incredible pieces of jewelry.
Yellow Amber
It is a fascinating yellow gemstone since it does not occur as a crystal. The gem is fossilized resin, and some may contain inclusions such as a leaf or an insect trapped in for decades. Amber occurs in different colors depending on the tree it was formed in. However, the most common amber is the orange and yellow gemstone.
Most likely, the orange-amber occurs in a deciduous tree. Amber value is determined by the appearance and where it was formed. This gem can occur as a cloudy or clear stone. The cloudy amber could be foamy, bony, or fatty. Yellow amber occurs in England, Russia, Baltic States, Netherlands, and Myanmar. The gemstone is very soft and cannot be used for everyday jewelry wear.
Yellow Sphene
Sphene is not a mainstream gem, but the stone bears an elegant color and brilliance that rivals other yellow gemstones. Perfectly-faceted sphene could confuse you for a yellow diamond. That is because the gem bears a unique ability to reflect light and an incredibly high refractive index.
Yellow sphene occurs in smaller sizes and contains inclusions. The crystal-clear deposits are rare. With a hardness of 7 Mohs, this gemstone is ideal for jewelry pieces to rock daily.
Danburite
Danburite consists of boric calcium silicate and mainly occurs as a mineral. The facetable and large-quality is, however, rare. In fact, this gemstone is not widely known, and it is regarded as a collector’s stone. High-quality deposits occur with excellent clarity and transparency. Danburite is harder than quartz and bears a brilliance resembling the finest topaz.
However, because of the ability to disperse light, this gemstone is not on the top of the list for mainstream jewelry. That explains why the gemstone is adored by connoisseurs than jewelers. Its sources include Danbury, where it was first discovered, Mexico, Russia, Japan, Madagascar, Burma, and Bolivia.
Scapolite
Yellow scapolite is a rare gemstone named after ‘skapos’ – a Greek word meaning stem or stick. It was named that from the long columnar crystals it exhibits. Commonly, the gem occurs in hone yellow, but it can also occur in other colors such as gray, violet, pink, orange, colorless, and brown.
Scapolite is loved for its vitreous luster and brilliance. The fine quality gemstone material is scarce, and because of this reason, it is not widely known by many. It is also relatively soft and lacks durability. That technically means not many jewelers will go for this gem as it is adored by collectors. Sources of this gemstone include Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, and Northern Burma, where it first occurred.
Yellow Apatite
It is a semi-precious gemstone loved by many gem collectors for its forms and colors. Apatite also occurs in neon green-blue, fine green, and bluish green deposits. Most of these green deposits occur in Madagascar. The yellow apatite can rival the precious beryl, stunning citrine, and golden sapphire.
However, the stone is not that hard, with a rating of only 5 Mohs; it is not durable for daily jewelry use.
Yellow Agate
Yellow Agate is a fine and outstanding gemstone. The gem bears stunning color patterns, which make it unique in the gemstone industry. Agates occur in diverse patterns and styles, but no two deposits will have the exact properties. Apart from yellow, agate also occurs in other colors such as purple, black, green, white, blue, red, orange, gray, multicolored, and pink.
With a hardness rating of 7 Mohs, it is good for jewelry use and bears a vitreous luster. These gemstones can make elegant jewelry pieces.
Yellow Calcite
Calcite is a mineral – calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is abundant and occurs as a colorless and transparent mineral. Calcite is also known as ‘calspar’ or ‘limespar’ and will form in sedimentary rocks like limestone. Some deposits of calcite will include organic materials such as marine organisms’ shells.
Its composition, yellow calcite, is similar to coral and pearl. The gem is relatively soft, and only collectors are more interested in the gemstone. It is not perfect for jewelry since it lacks the durability and hardness required to make outstanding jewelry. Sources for this gemstone include Mexico, Africa, Germany, Czech Republic, and the US.
Yellow Color-change Diaspore
This gemstone will also go by the name Zultanite. It is a stone from Turkey, and basically, it is colored by manganese. Color-change diaspore is made up of hydrated aluminum oxide. Initially, the stone was faceted in the 1980s but was never mined anymore until recently. The gemstone has a hardness rating of around 7 Mohs, making it suitable for carvings and elegant jewelry pieces.
It also comes with a unique brilliance which makes it quite breathtaking. Under fluorescent or natural light, this stone exhibits a kiwi green color and several yellow flashes. When subjected to candlelight, the gem turns pinkish.
Rutile Quartz
Rutilated quartz has always been a wonder to jewelers and connoisseurs, especially the smoky or clear quartz. The smoky quartz bears titanium dioxide inclusions, otherwise known as rutile. These rutile needles exhibit stunning patterns that resemble miniature sculptures.
Every rutile quartz is different, with some bearing dense clusters of needles while others exhibit hair-like intersecting needles. Rutile quartz comes with extraordinary properties that jewelers use to produce astonishing pieces such as rings and necklaces.
Sillimanite
Sillimanite is a very rare gemstone and known by very few people due to the rarity. The mineral is made up of aluminum silicate. It is a polymorph, meaning they share the exact composition with andalusite and kyanite. However, each will have different phenomenal crystal structures.
Sillimanite bears an excellent resiliency and resistance to chemicals and heat, which is why both jewelers and gemstone collectors love it. Important sources for the gemstone include Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the United States, and Kenya.
Sphalerite
Sphalerite occurs in different colors such as brown, yellow, green, and fiery red. The gem bears an attractive luster and a higher dispersion than diamond, making it a priority to jewelers and gem collectors. However, most deposits are too soft for many jewelry uses. It could be ideal for earrings and pendants or evening wears. Some of the essential sources of this gem include Spain, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia the United States.
Final Thoughts
Some yellow gemstones are perfect for astounding jewelry pieces while some are ideal for gemstone collectors due to their properties. However, just like other gemstones, the finest and clearest gems are very rare and thereby fetch higher prices in the market.
