Purple gemstone: Do you know these 24 gems?

Do you like purple? Are you wondering which purple stones exist besides amethyst? I have put together a short list to help you make sense of it all!

Purple Gemstones

Purple gemstones by name:

• Purple sapphire
• Rhodolite Garnet
• Amethyst
• Fluorite
• Tanzanite
• Rubellite
• Iolite
• Sugilite
• Ametrine
• Charoite
• Kunzite
• Taffeite
• Musgravite
• Spinel
• Zircon
• Sugilite
• Chalcedony
• Moissanite
• Jadeite Jade
• Diamond
• Scapolite
• CZ
• Common opal
• Glass

N°1: Sapphire

Purple sapphire is a variety of corundum with shades ranging from lavender to deeper violet.

Positives:

• A highly coveted and sought-after gemstone.
• A mystical color
• Because there’s more to life than blue sapphires
• Available in sapphire with color change from pink to violet
• Available in synthetic for those who prefer to avoid mines.
• One of the best durabilities on the market after diamonds and moissanites.

But be careful:

• Very expensive
• There are a large number of counterfeits and misrepresentations on the market.
• These stones are often treated and sellers do not always mention them in their descriptions.

N°2: Rhodolite Garnet

Rhodolite garnet, also known as grape garnet, ranges in hue from purplish to reddish-purple.

Positives:

• A fairly bold grape color
• A rather original and little-used purple gemstone.
• Fairly affordable
• Very few treatments or synthetics, so few tricks with unscrupulous sellers
• Durability for regular use

But be careful:

• No synthetics for the garnets
• Not much else! Watch out for other fake pink stones being sold as garnet.

N°3: Amethyst

Amethyst is a prized variety of quartz, with shades ranging from pale lavender-purple to intense violet-blue.

Positives:

• For lovers of pure purple
• Synthetic amethyst is available for those who prefer to avoid mines
• Good durability
• Affordable and easy to find

But be careful:

• Synthetic amethysts are very difficult to recognize, even with professional equipment.
• Synthetics are not necessarily indicated by the seller and may be sold as natural.
• Not much! Quartz are generally reliable and affordable!

N°4: Fluorite

Fluorite is a rather fragile stone that displays a wide variety of colors, including several shades of purple.

Positives:

• A stone with a variety of violet hues, from pale to deep
• A beautiful stone to collect
• Little counterfeited or synthesized because of low demand
• An often overlooked gem

But be careful:

• A very fragile stone, with a hardness of 6 and a tendency to split very easily
• Not recommended for jewelry because of its fragility

N°5: Tanzanite

Tanzanite is a variety of zoïsite known for its vivid purple hues. They are originally brown to colorless.

Positives:

• A stone with vivid to dark violet hues, offering great diversity
• A very recent stone, discovered in the 20th century
• A purple gem gaining in popularity
• Good durability

But be careful:

• The violet color comes from heat treatment on brown to colourless zoïsites.
• Some brands are redoubling their marketing efforts to drive up the price of these stones.
• Its popularity is on the rise and can trigger the production of synthetics if it becomes profitable.

N°6: Rubellite

Rubellite is a variety of tourmaline with shades ranging from pinkish-red to violet-red.

Positives:

• A stone with a wide range of colors and red-tinged purples
• Little known
• Excellent hardness for everyday use

But be careful:

• Some sellers may present other stones as tourmaline, which may mislead buyers
• Tourmaline can sometimes be treated to improve its color or clarity, altering its natural hue. Some irradiation treatments can create reddish-violet tones, but are not very long-lasting. Unfortunately, it is impossible to detect them
• Colorants can be used to create this color. This dye tends to gather in fractures and is not durable.
• Due to its diversity of colors and varieties, tourmaline prices can vary considerably depending on the quality and rarity of the stone.

N°7: Iolite

Iolite is a little-known stone that displays pale to violet to bluish hues .

Positives:

• A stone with bold violet hues
• A lesser-known and original gem
• Still affordable
• Good hardness for everyday use
• Generally untreated

But be careful:

• Stone has a natural cleavage, which means it can split on impact
• Little used by jewellers because of the risk of splitting during cutting
• Not easy to find

N°8: Ametrine

Ametrine is a Quartz variety mixing amethyst and citrine! It displays the yellow to golden colors of citrine, as well as the violet color of amethyst.

Positives:

• A bicolor stone in shades of yellow and purple
• A little-known and original gem
• Good hardness, like all quartz, suitable for regular use
• Available as synthetic

But be careful:

• Sellers do not necessarily specify the natural, treated or synthetic origin of their stone.
• The color may be due to heating treatments on one side of the stone.

N°9: Charoite

Charoite is a little-known stone with violet hues close to amethyst.

Positives:

• A little-known purple stone
• Clean shades of violet
• generally very affordable
• Very good tenacity
• Very little processed or synthesized

But be careful:

• Medium hardness , requiring a few precautions to avoid scratches
• No synthetic

N°10: Kunzite

Kunzite, a variety of spodumene, ranges from pale pink to deep violet-pink, often with shimmering highlights.

Positives:

• A very soft color, from pink to violet
• Little known
• A good hardness of 7
• Excellent resistance to acids and other chemicals
• Fairly affordable

But be careful:

• It is still sensitive to shocks and high temperatures.
• Difficult to cut because of its perfect cleavage in two directions, so not easy to find in jewelry.
• Little to no synthetics

N°11: Taaffeite

Taaffeite is a rare stone showing shades of pink, red, blue or violet. In fact, it’ s one of my top rarest stones.

Positives:

• One of the rarest stones in the world
• Perfect for collectors
• Beautiful violet to bluish hues
• Little counterfeit
• Excellent hardness from 8 to 8.5

But be careful:

• Its rarity implies a very high price
• Not easy to find
• Watch out for counterfeits!

N°12: Musgravite

Musgravite belongs to the Taaffeite family and shows shades of gray to violet. It is extremely rare and is included in my ranking of the rarest stones.

Positives:

• One of the rarest stones in the world
• Perfect for collectors
• A soft, often grayish violet color
• Excellent hardness from 8 to 8.5
• Little counterfeit

But be careful:

• Its rarity implies a very high price
• Not easy to find
• Watch out for counterfeits!

N°13: Spinel

Violet spinel ranges in hue from purplish-red to violet-pink.

Positives:

• Soft to intense natural shades
• Synthetic spinels come in a wide variety of colors
• A little-known stone
• Excellent durability against impact and scratches
• A stone that’s not afraid of water, and not much else in general
• Affordable, especially synthetics

But be careful:

• Treatments not always mentioned by sellers
• Synthetics can be sold as natural

N°14: Zircon

Zircon is the oldest mineral in the world today, with specimens dating back over 4.4 billion years! It comes in a wide variety of shades, including violet.

Positives:

• Exceptional spark, second only to diamond and moissanite
• Near diamond-like brilliance
• The world ‘s oldest terrestrial material
• A broad color palette
• More affordable than diamond

But be careful:

• With a hardness of 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, zircon is fragile and requires care. Impacts must be avoided. Some zircons do not tolerate strong sunlight or heat.
• A plethora of imitations and fakes all over the net. Watch out for shot glasses and CZs.
• Violet zircon remains rare and expensive

N°15: Sugilite

Sugilite is a fairly rare stone that can show very strong purple hues.

Positives:

• A little-known stone
• Perfect for collectors
• Intense shades of purple
• Excellent tenacity
• It is also used in sculpture
• Still affordable

But be careful:

• Not easy to find because not very popular
• Numerous imitations
• A hardness of 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale , which requires a few precautions to avoid scratches

N°16: Chalcedony

Chalcedony is a family of polycrystalline quartz varieties such as agate and jasper. It can show a wide variety of hues and patterns, including purple.

Positives:

• Soft purple colors
• A little-known stone in this shade
• Good scratch resistance
• Excellent tenacity
• Affordable

But be careful:

• Many chalcedonies are tinted and the treatments are not mentioned by the sellers.

N°17: Moissanite

Moissanite is a synthetic stone with only a few natural specimens. The vast majority are created in laboratories and come in a wide variety of hues.

Positives:

• More brilliance than diamond
• An exceptional hardness of 9.5, second only to diamond and its perfect 10
• A wide variety of shades, including purple
• Generally affordable (depending on brand)

But be careful:

• Moissanite is often over-marketed , making it more expensive than it is.

N°18: Jadeite Jade

Jadeite jade, although known in green, is also available in a multitude of sublime hues. the purple is soft and called”lavender”.

Positives:

• The toughest stone in the world
• Very soft, beautiful pink-purple to lavender-purple hues, especially on translucent stones
• Highly sought-after
• Affordable in its opaque variety

But be careful:

• A multitude of fakes and imitations on the market due to the popularity of jade jadeite
• Jades are often treated, repaired, bleached and dyed, so care must be taken to select a reputable vendor who will indicate the grade of each piece of jade sold.
• Beware of the fractures and inclusions that can be found in jade, as they will greatly reduce the stone’s toughness.
• No synthetics
• Quality jade jadeite is expensive
• Very pure, translucent jade jadeite is extremely expensive! These pieces can cost far more than some diamonds! At all costs, avoid popular sites like Etsy, Ebay and any seller who doesn’t specialize in jade and is recognized as such. I’m going to write a jade buying guide to explain it all better!

N°19: Diamond

Diamonds can also display generally soft violet hues. They can be more pronounced, particularly in the case of synthetic diamonds.

Positives:

• The hardest stone in the world, virtually impossible to scratch or chip
• Excellent resistance to acids and chemicals
• Very soft purple to brown hues on natural diamonds and a wide variety on synthetic diamonds
• Highly sought-after
• Synthetic diamonds are affordable compared to natural ones and offer a multitude of hues with perfect purity and no risk of armed conflict or human suffering.
• Increasingly controlled labels (even if it still leaves much to be desired)

But be careful:

• Diamond is relatively sensitive to shocks and high temperatures, and can be damaged.
• A multitude of fakes and imitations on the market due to its popularity
• A market controlled almost entirely by the big players in the luxury sector, who fluctuate prices according to their desires and redouble their marketing efforts to ensure that everyone dreams of owning one.
• Extremely expensive when natural
• Serious human and ecological problems along much of the production chain
• Synthetics are generally much more expensive than other stones.

N°20: Scapolite

Although less well known , purple scapolite has fairly pure violet to pink hues.

Positives:

• A little-known yet beautiful stone
• Soft shades
• A good hardness of 6
• Excellent water resistance

But be careful:

• Few synthetics due to current lack of popularity (lack of profitability for laboratories)
• Some fragility to shocks
• Its lack of popularity makes it rare in jewelry and therefore relatively expensive.
• Can be imitated by quartz, beryl and topaz in particular

N°21: CZ

CZ is a man-made material. It does not occur in nature and comes in a wide variety of hues, including purple.

Positives:

• Available in every imaginable color
• Higher brilliance than diamond
• A good hardness of 8.5
• Fairly affordable

But be careful:

• Watch out for imitations
• Many sellers are riding the diamond wave and offering exorbitant prices

N°22: Opal

Also little known, common opal can be purple! It can also show dendritic forms, i.e. resembling small branches like moss agate.

Positives:

• Generally soft and varied colors
• Common purple dendritic opals (with inclusions in the form of small branches) are also available.
• A good hardness of 6
• Affordable

But be careful:

• Can be imitated with agate or jasper
• Generally fragile and sensitive to shocks, chemicals and high temperatures. it’s one of my top perfume-hating stones

N°23: Alexandrite

Alexandrite is a variety of chrysoberyl renowned for its ability ability to change color according to light sources. It can show a reddish-violet color under incandescent light.

Positives:

• Very rare and sought-after
• A natural and original color change
• Excellent hardness of 8.5
• Perfect for collectors
• Synthetic alexandrites are available and more affordable

But be careful:

• Generally very expensive
• Not easy to find

N°24: Glass

Glass, a versatile and ubiquitous material, seduces with its transparency and ability to be shaped into a multitude of shapes and colors. Beyond its decorative use, glass is also valued for its optical properties and durability, making it a popular choice for those seeking to combine budget, environment and elegance in their creations.

Positives:

• A multitude of color and shape possibilities
• A sustainable material that can be recycled 100% over and over again
• Perfect for incessant fashion changes
• Very affordable

But be careful:

With a hardness of 5.5 on the Mohs scale, it can break or scratch more easily than harder stones (but less than fluorite)

Not much, the glass allows everything, without guilt or bankruptcy.

So, which stone for this mystical color? It’s my favorite!

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