Just like flowers bring a message, colors we wear talk about us. A color can influence our emotions and our actions. We are naturally attracted by a personal spectrum that means something for us.

Creating a jewel starting from a color that has a meaning for you will allow you to express your personality as well as transmitting a message to the subconscient of people surrounding you.

Note:

• The characteristics of colors vary from one culture to another and translate different feelings according to the part of the world where you are.
• A multicolored stone will be less expressive and symbolic than a monochrome stone because of the amount of colors it sports.

Symbolism and properties of black stones

Black both symbolizes protection and darkness.

It symbolizes the serious, stability, balance and solemnity. The black color evokes protection, luxe and exclusivity.

Black is also a fashionable color and gives a touch of elegance and mystery. Whereas in the past, black was referring to deprivation and renunciation (such as some ecclesiastics' clothes), it is today a synonym of luxe and power (like evening dresses, the dress of judges, black luxurious cars…)
the black color is formed by the complete absorption of the light which also gives this color a sponge effect. It is used as a calming color.

Black is also the color of mourning, sadness, darkness, the unknown, of what is hidden. It also symbolizes rebellion (pirate, anarchist...)

In the antique Egypt, the black color was very positive and meant “carry out”. It meant the will to succeed and to accomplish an obligation.

In China, the black color is linked to iron because of its color. It would evoke straightness and constance.

In a big part of Africa and in some Asian countries such as Vietnam, the mourning color is white.

Examples of black stones: astrophyllite, black kyanite, ilvaite, black jasper, nuummite, black obsidians, black onyx, shungite, black spinel, black tourmaline…

Symbolism and properties of blue color stones

The blue color evokes the sky and the ocean, sleep and twilight.

Indeed, the Egyptians from the antiquity would use the lapis lazuli stone to symbolize the sky.

Blue is the color for inspiration, intuition, sincerity, spirituality, harmony, inner peace, calmness and logic. It is a soothing color and it would help sleeping.

For English spoken people, blue often represents sadness.

In China, blue symbolizes torment, ghosts and death.

In Turkey and in Central Asia, blue is the color for mourning.

For Hinduists, a lot of gods have a blue skin such as Vishnu. This color symbolizes the role of the guardian o the earth and more particularly, of water.

For Jewish people, blue symbolizes the glory of God. Looking at this colors helps meditating as it gives you an idea of the sky and its purity.

Example of blue color stones: blue agate, blue lace agate, aquamarine, angelite, blue apatite, blue aragonite, blue aventurine, benitoite, blue chalcedony, blue calcite, Celestine, chrysocolla, covellite, dumortierite, hemimorphite, blue kyanite, lapis-lazuli, larimar, blue opal, blue quartz, blue sapphire, shattuckite, sodalite, turquoise, tanzanite…

Symbolism and properties of light blue stones

The light blue color and more particularly turquoise is the symbol of youth and communication. It evokes soothing, health, trust, and strength.

It reflects creativity and communication with others.

Examples of light blue stones: aquamarine, chalcedony, blue calcite, labradorite, blue topaz, blue tourmaline, turquoise…

Symbolism and properties of dark blue stones

Dark blue is compared to the sky, to the celestial, to the immaterial, to moderation and truth. It brings harmony, inner peace and helps to calm down.

It represents self-communication.

Examples of dark blue stones: azurite, labradorite, lapis-lazuli, blue sapphire, sodalite, blue tourmaline…

Symbolism and properties of brown colors

This color is associated to the material and to life. It is a conventional color. It is the symbol of stability, solidity and trust.

Brown gives a security feeling and structures. Just like the earth, it calls to solid roots that allow growth and fertility.

Brown can also be interpreted in a negative way if it is too present as when it refers to a repressed or lazy person.

Examples of brown stones: brown agate, aragonite, axinite, petrified wood, bronzite, chiastolite, tiger eye, smoky quartz, stromatolithe, brown tourmaline…

Symbolism, and properties of golden stones

The gold color evokes the sun. it is the symbol of spiritual richness, illumination, prosperity, luxe, good health and optimism.

The gold color does not have a negative connotation except maybe a certain idea of cupidity.

Examples of golden stones: gold, pyrite…

Symbolism and properties of green color stones

"Biloba" earrings with green peridot

The green color is a symbol of life in its cyclical aspect such as vegetal growth

Green is the color of nature, fertility and life. It refers to youth, love of life, calmness, spontaneity, harmony, learning, softness, balance, perpetual rebirth, brings hope, prosperity and growth.
It is a calming color that reminds self-respect and well-being. Olive green is the traditional color for peace.

In spite of its link to nature, some green hues are more negative. Dark green is associated to ambition, cupidity and jealousy. The yellow green symbolizes disease, cowardice, discord and jealousy. But green can also refer to youth, inexperience, and credulity as a reference to the color of immature fruits.

In China, green symbolizes the East, the rise of the sun, life and growth.

In the Irish and English folklore, green is often associated to witchcraft, fairies and elfs.

Green is the traditional color of Islam. It is the color of the dress and the banner of Mahomet that one will also wear once in paradise. It is possible that this is the reason why the color is associated to nature and abundance as a reference to the oasis in the middle of the desert.

Examples of green stones: moss agate, amazonite, aventurine, green calcite, green chlorite, chrysocolla, chrysoprase, diopside, emerald, epidote, fuschite, heliotrope, jadeite, nephrite jade, malachite, moldavite, peridot, prehnite, prase quartz, green sardonyx, seraphinite, serpentine, green tourmaline, tsavorite, vesuvianite…

Symbolism and properties of grey color stones

It is the color of nuance, compromise, balance between black and white. It is the pragmatic color that makes you think of security, maturity, trust, wisdom, knowledge and responsibility. Wisdom and dignity are deserved with time, such as the experience of old people and their white hair. It is the color of businessmen's suits since the 1930's.

The grey color can often been seen as a lack of something (it is not white, nor black, nor colored). In the western world, it is often associated with boredom, depression, melancholy and sadness.

For the Amerindians, it is the symbol of friendship.

In Hinduism, the grey color is sacred such as the silver color. It represents the color of the incense smoke going to the sky and bringing human prayers to the gods.

Examples of grey color stones: Botswana agate, hematite, labradorite, snowflake obsidian, galena…

Symbolism and properties of orange stones

Between the red (energy) and the yellow (blooming) colors, orange is a breath of lie. It is the color of rebirth, renew and balance. Orange expresses joy, trust, enthusiasm and amusement.

Orange means vitality and endurance. Its energy is close to the fiery heat of red, but softer and less explosive.

It is the color of material pleasure, of conviviality, enthusiasm, friendship, spontaneity and relational. Orange evokes the exploration, curiosity and encourages creativity. It also refers to arousal and desire ( to life, to food and sexuality…).

For Hinduisms, orange represents the second chakra and symbolizes creativity and dynamism. It is used for clothes in sign of renunciation. It is a sacred color representing the purifying fire synonym of freedom.

The Buddhist monks also wear orange that symbolizes the renunciation of the Buddha Gautama to mundane life. He would have made this cloth from the shroud of a dead person found in a cemetery. Orange also symbolizes purity for them as this color is close to gold.

In china, according to Confucianism, orange is the color of transformation. Red represents happiness and power, fire and sensuality. Yellow evokes perfection, nobility, light and spirituality. Orange is a compromise between these two complementary elements, thus the symbol of transformation. Like in India, orange is linked to the color of saffron which is the finest and the most expensive.

Examples of orange stones: orange amber, bumblebee, orange calcite, carnelian, orange disthene, fire opal, sunstone, spessartine, orange imperial topaz…

Symbolism and properties of pink stones

Pink is the color of love, of unconditional friendship, of controlled passion, of romanticism, seduction and tranquility. It combines the energy of red softened by its mix with white. It gives softness, tenderness, fidelity, politeness, sensitivity and softens agressivity.

Pink is also associated to the negative aspect of silliness

In Japan, pink is associated to spring due to the cherry trees' blossom. On the contrary, green is the chosen color for this symbol in Europe and the USA.

Examples of pink stones: chalcedony, dandurite, pink fluorite, pink halite, kunzite, morganite, pink opal, petalite, pink quartz, rhodochrosite, rhodolite, rhodonite, pink sapphire, spinel, pink topaz, pink tourmaline…

Symbolism and properties of purple stones

Purple is the color of wisdom, magic, spirituality and royalty. It symbolizes mystery and thinking. Purple is the color of good judgement, of a clear spirit, of people who are looking for spirituality and for mind tranquility.

Purple brings dynamism by the presence of red, controlled by the blue color.

Before science decided that purple was part of the colors, it was considered as negative reminding deceit, betrayal, sadness, penance, vanity and affliction.

As it is considered as a variant of the black color, it was then more linked to mourning. Nowadays, there is still a link to jealousy.

In Europe, purple is associated to luxe. It is often used to showcase a jewelry box or a bottle box.

Examples of purple stones: amethyst, charoite, cordierite, purple fluorite, lepidolite, purpurite, lavender quartz, stichtite, sugilite…

Symbolism and properties of red colored stones

Red is the color of blood and fire. It evokes energy, dynamism, courage, strength, will. Red pushes you to act, more than thinking. It is the color of passion, love and life.

But the warmest color also has negative aspects by referring to anger, hurry, lack of thinking and danger. Red takes us back to our primitive physical and emotional instincts about surviving and self-care.

In China, red is the color of prosperity and joy. As it refers to fire, it is seen as a positive color reminding courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion and summer. In the tradition, it is linked to the wedding where you have to dress in red. Expensive gifts are generally wrapped in red paper.

In Japan, red symbolizes the hero.

In India, red is the color of brides and of married women. It symbolizes purity, fertility, richness and beauty.

In Central Africa, red symbolizes life and health. But on other parts of the continent, red is symbol of death and mourning.

Examples of red stones: andesine, red calcite, cinnabar, red coral, carnelian, eudialyte, garnet, heliotrope, hematite, red jasper, bull's eye, ruby, spinel, vanadinite…

Symbolism and properties of silver color stones

Silver is a metallic grey. It symbolizes inner richness and hidden power. It is the color of transformation and progress.

In the Hinduism philosophy, the silver color is sacred, such as is the grey color. It represents the color of the incense smoke that elevates to the sky bringing prayers from the humans to the gods.

In Asia, and more particularly in Korea, China and Japan, the expression “Silver River” is used to refer to the Milky way.

In England, in heraldry, the silver color represents the shininess, purity, virtue or innocence.

Example of silver color stones: sterling silver, hematite, magnetite, pyrolusite….

Symbolism and properties of white or transparent stones

The white color symbolizes purity, knowledge, peace and spirituality. It gives softness, compassion and has a soothing effect. This color also represents kindness, plenitude, achievement, openness, truth, freedom and innocence.

As it refers to light, the white color is the contrary of the darkness. But the white color also refers to the whiteness of death, ghosts, the old age (white hair) and absence.

In China, the white color is associated to death and mourning. Considering death is only a step towards rebirth, the white evokes purity.

In the Japanese religion that is Shintoism, a zone of white pebbles represents the entrance to sacred places that are dedicated to spirits coming from the sky. This trend was then passed to zen Buddhist temples where you can often find a sand garden or a white pebble garden that would help with meditation.

In Africa, the white color is also associated to death and mourning.

Examples of white and transparent stones: white agate, white aragonite, white chalcedony, rock crystal, diamond, howlite, white kunzite, white opal, opalite, milky quartz, white sapphire, scolecite, white selenite, white topaz, ulexite….

Symbolism and properties of yellow stones

Yellow is the color of the sun, of heat and of gold. Yellow symbolizes energy, creation, wisdom, happiness, development, dynamism, felicity, intelligence, amusement and self-esteem.

Light is often associated to the yellow color and thus symbolizes intelligence and wisdom.

Yellow also brings some negative aspects such as betrayal, duplicity and jealousy.

The meaning of this color depends on the intensity of the yellow color: yellow green refers to cheating, disorientation, and the yellow orange to establishment and solidity.

In Asia, yellow symbolizes power, sovereignty and aristocracy whereas in the western world, the red color is used for these purposes.

In China, yellow was reserved to the emperor. The first emperor was thus called the yellow emperor. Yellow, red and green are male colors, opposed to black and white that are considered more feminine. This explains the representation of the male yang in yellow and the feminine yin in black.

In Buddhism or Hinduism, yellow is an important color that symbolizes Saffron (which is very expensive) and renunciation. The nuances you can find for these clothes range from yellow to orange.

In South and Central America, yellow is a very positive color. It evokes the sun, the source of life as well as gold, and corn which is the most important food.

In the Islam religion, yellow is for gold and wisdom.

In Polynesia, the yellow color is the sacred color which is the symbol of the gods.

Examples of yellow stones: yellow amber, yellow calcite, honey calcite, chalcopyrite, chrysoberyl, citrine, yellow fluorite, yellow jasper, cat's eye, tiger eye, lemon quartz, yellow sapphire, sulfur, titanite, imperial topaze…