Green is the most popular colour second to blue. It is restful to the eye and is the colour associated with nature and youth. In the 1400s it was the most popular colour for wedding gowns. It is also the colour used for night vision goggles, as the eye is most sensitive to this colour and able to distinguish most shades in this colour.

It is not surprising then that Emeralds are a very popular gemstone.However, it is one of the gemstones we find most difficult to buy and many an hour is spent examining them before a purchase is made. For our single stones, we favour Emeralds from Colombia, which is an ancient source and one that yields the finest material.

But Emerald is not the only green gemstone. The August birthstone Peridot is one of the few precious gemstones found only in one colour – green. But whilst peridot is fairly common, found in several parts of the world, gem-quality peridot is rare.

Another popular green gemstone is Tourmaline and it comes in a huge variety of colours, from the very bright grass green chrome Tourmalines, to the beautiful subtle mint green of Namibian and Afghanistan tourmalines and all the subtle shades in between that our eyes can pick up so sensitively. Tourmaline has the advantage of being tougher than Emerald, despite its slightly lower hardness, making it a good ring stone.

One of the least well known green stones but one of the most beautiful is Tsavorite, a rare green Garnet from East Africa. While garnets are usually associated with the colour red, Tsavorite stones are instead a very intense, saturated green and very bright.

Gemstone specialists GF Williams supplies a huge range of high quality coloured gemstones and is an expert and experienced gemstone supplier to designers, manufacturers, collectors and private clients.

Find out more about how GF Williams can fulfil your gemstone requirements by browsing our online gemstone catalogue or contacting our friendly team of gemstone experts on +44 (0) 207 405 5477 or email office@gfwilliams.co.uk.