Difference between revisions of "Color"

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Color (or the lack of color) is one of the prime aspects what determines the beauty of a gemstone. For every person the  quality of color is depended on his or her personal senses, making color grading a very subjective matter that would be very hard to communicate with the lack of a general system to compare and describe colors.<br />
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Color is one of the most important (if not the most) factors that determine the beauty of gemstones.<br />
Luckely the GIA has developed such a system, based on the work of Albert Munsell done around the turn of the 20th century.
+
While most other aspects in gemology are abstract and well defined, color is not. It is very subjective and the sensation of color differs from person to person as much as the visions of opponents in politics, religion or humor. To some even the absense of color is preferred and the beauty is perceived from the optical properties a gem might posses (as the brilliance in [[diamond]] or reflection from rutile needles in Kashmir [[sapphire]]).<br />
  
The color grading system of the GIA seperates "color" into 3 components which will be discussed in full below.
 
* Hue
 
* Tone
 
* Saturation
 
 
A typical notation for a colored gemstone in this system will look like the following sample.
 
 
{|
 
{|
 
|-
 
|-
|
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| __TOC__
{| style="border: solid black 1px; width:90px;height:90px;"
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| valign="bottom" style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left:30px;" |
|-
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[[image:Exlamation_mark.jpg|left]]Believe it or not, but the above white space is made up from 3 different colors (red, blue and green). Hold your [[10x Loupe|loupe]] close to the screen and observe the powers of light.
| style="font-weight:bold;font-size:20px;text-align:center;background-color:lightgray;"| B 5/2
 
 
|}
 
|}
  
|
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==Basic==
:The B stands for the hue (blue in this case),<br />
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:5 stands for the tone and<br />
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:<html><div style="font-weight:bold; font-style:italic;">"a phenomenon of light (as red, brown, pink, or gray) or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects"</div></html>
:2 indicates the level of saturation
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::''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary''
|}
+
 
 +
As can be read from the above definition of color, to humans color is a perception constant. Merriam-Webster defines perception as "''awareness of the elements of environment through physical sensation''".<br />
 +
 
 +
From this can be concluded that perception of color is a sensation that is different from person to person and is influenced by circumstances. People who are tired will most likely be less sensitive to color than those who are not.
 +
Photographers are well aware that objects have different colors in different lighting conditions. Furniture makers know that one should use only the fabric from the same dyed roll when covering a couch, as do tailors when making a suit as the circumstances in dying the fabric may chance rapidly, but subtle, when the dye-bath is cleaned or needs a new mix (causing a phenomenon named metamerism).<br />
 +
 
 +
The same applies to gemstones. Gems look different under changing lighting conditions and a gemologist should be very aware of this. Blue sapphires look best during afternoon hours, while rubies are at their best behavior before noon and in the evenings. Some gemstones even dramatically change their hue between daylight and incandecent light.
 +
 
 +
===Causes of color===
 +
 
 +
::''main article: [[Causes of color]]''
 +
 
 +
What we see as color is merely the reflection of light from objects.<br />
 +
As white light (from the sun or other source) shines on a gemstone, some of the wavelengths will be absorbed by the gem while others are reflected from and/or transmitted through the stone. It is the combination of these left over ("residual") wavelengths that are collected at the back of our eyes (the retina), and interpreted by our brains, that defines the color of an object.<br />
 +
How exactly an object absorbs light is explained elsewhere.
 +
 
 +
In order for color to excist there must be 3 conditions met:
 +
# color vision
 +
# an object
 +
# light shining on an object
  
When we judge colored gemstones we judge them "face up" (table up) while balancing the stone between our fingers in the palm of our hand. This lets the light be reflected in and out of the stone through the crown. When we judge reflected light, it is termed "key color" opposed to transmitted light which is named "body color" (viewed through the pavillion).<br />
+
From these 3 requirements one ask a few philosophical questions, as: does an object have color in the dark? The answer should of course be no. In fact gemstones do not have color in light either, the color is produced by the interpretation of our eyes and brain. Which is different from one person to the other.<br />
Diamonds are judged table down against a white background, but the focus of this system is on colored gemstones.
+
Under different lighting conditions gemstones appear to have a different color, which can be easily demonstrated by shining different colors on a white object, like a wall. If you shine "white" light on the wall, none of the spectral colors are absorbed by the wall and all is reflected back to your eyes. Making the wall look white. When one shines a green light on the wall, only the green portion of the spectrum can be reflected, hence the wall appears green.
  
A very important ingredient in judging color is proper lightning. By convention we use "northern skylight" when judging gemstones (or southern skylight when you live south of the equator).
+
===Mixing colors===
  
==Hue==
+
From a young age most of use are taught that if we mix red and green together, we get a black color (or at best a dark gray). The reason for this is that we were mixing paint. Mixing paint is ''subtractive color mixing''.<br />
 +
For light it works different. When we would mix red light with green light, the result would be yellow light and this is termed ''additive color mixing''.<br />
 +
Similarly if we mix red, green and blue paint together, the result will be black. But if we mix red, green and blue light together we get white light.
  
When we use the term "color" in daily speak, we are actually refering to the "hue". Hue is the first impression we get when seeing color. This hue is modified by tone and saturation.<br />
+
So when we think of light, we should completely forget about our Picasso minds.
The GIA color grading system uses 31 different hues to describe the primary key color of a gemstone. These 31 hues are used to compare the color against the color of the gemstone.<br />
 
For comparising purposes, several sofware programs have been created to replace the old plastic color swatches the GIA used to sell.
 
  
{{color}}
+
{| align="center"
 +
|-
 +
|[[image:additive_color_mixing.jpg|200px]]
 +
|[[image:subtractive_color_mixing.jpg|200px]]
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"|Additive color mixing of light
 +
|align="center"|Subtractive color mixing of paint
 +
|}
  
==Tone==
+
With ''additive'' color mixing, we start with no light and add colored light. When we are in a dark room and we shine a red light (as from a torch) on a wall, that spot will appear red. Now when we add light from a green torch to it, we get a yellow spot on the wall. If we then at blue light to it, the spot appears white.
  
Tone is the lightness or darkness in a gemstone. There are 11 degrees of tone in the GIA color grading system, but only 7 of them are actually used (2 through 8).
+
For ''subtractive'' color mixing it works reversed. We shine white light on an object and the object absorbs portions of the light, subtracting that particular color from the light.
  
{{tone}}
+
===Lighting conditions===
  
[[image:Hsv-blue.jpg|right|framed]]
+
Proper lighting is crucial when attempting to colorgrade gemstones. Selecting the correct lamps may greatly effect the color you perceive.
  
 +
====Daylight====
  
Although from the tonescale given above one could think of midrange tones (such as 5) to be gray, this is not the case. Instead one should think of it as white or black mixed in with the pure hue.<br />
+
Sunlight has color temperatures between 2,000 and 28,000° Kelvin. In the mornings the color temperatures are lower and look more red to yellow. Around noon the color temperature will be around 5.500° Kelvin and in the afternoon the color appears to be more blue with a high color temperature. In the evenings, the color temperature drops and the light will appear again more yellow to red. As one might suspect, different times of day will have an influence on the colors of gems.<br />
In the image on the right a pure blue hue is mixed in with various amounts of white (from 2 to 5) and various ammounts of black (5 to 8).
+
The standard in grading colored stones is light at 5,500° Kelvin, that is when the light from the sun is most white.
  
Gray is a modifier of saturation, not of tone.
+
Fluorescent lamps are produced to mimic this daylight from the sun and a widerange of good quality lamps are available. Pay good attention to the color temperature when buying one.
<br clear="all" />
 
  
==Saturation==
+
====Incandecent light====
  
Saturation is the brightness (or purity, intensity) of a hue. The purer the color, the higher grade it will get on the saturation scale.
+
Incandescent light is light from a hot object like a flame or a tungsten lightbulb. Usually these lamps can not be produced with a color temperature over 3,000° Kelvin and are therefor not suitable for the colorgrading of gemstones.
  
The saturation scale goes from 1 to 6. Lower grades (1 to 3) can have a gray or brown modifier, while in grades above 3 these modifiers are absent.<br />
+
==Sources==
Cool colors, like green and blue, have a gray modifier in low saturation. The warm colors (red, orange and yellow) have a brown modifier. Any stone that doesn't have a gray or brown modifier will atleast be a 4 on the saturation scale.
 
  
Saturation scale with descriptions:
+
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964509768?ie=UTF8&tag=gemsandwhywelove&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0964509768 Ruby & Sapphire (1997) - Richard W. Hughes] ''Out of Print; Limited Availibility''<br />
# grayish (brownish)
+
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0972822380?ie=UTF8&tag=gemsandwhywelove&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0972822380 Secrets of the Gem Trade (2003) - Richard W. Wise ]<br />
# slightly grayish (brownish)
+
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0408014474?ie=UTF8&tag=gemsandwhywelove&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0408014474 Gemstone Enhancement (1984) - Kurt Nassau]
# very slightly grayish (brownish)
 
# moderately strong
 
# strong
 
# vivid
 
  
The descriptions are only used in verbal communications.
 
  
{|
+
<br />
|-
+
<br />
| colspan="6" align="center"| Saturation scale for medium dark toned hues
+
'''Next:[[Color_grading| Color Grading]]'''
|-
+
<br /><br />
| colspan="6"| [[image:saturation_red.gif]]
+
'''[[Table_Of_Contents| Return to the Table of Contents]]'''
|-
 
|align="center"|1
 
|align="center"|2
 
|align="center"|3
 
|align="center"|4
 
|align="center"|5
 
|align="center"|6
 
|-
 
| colspan="6"| [[image:saturation_blue.gif]]
 
|}
 

Latest revision as of 15:50, 1 June 2009

Color is one of the most important (if not the most) factors that determine the beauty of gemstones.
While most other aspects in gemology are abstract and well defined, color is not. It is very subjective and the sensation of color differs from person to person as much as the visions of opponents in politics, religion or humor. To some even the absense of color is preferred and the beauty is perceived from the optical properties a gem might posses (as the brilliance in diamond or reflection from rutile needles in Kashmir sapphire).

Exlamation mark.jpg
Believe it or not, but the above white space is made up from 3 different colors (red, blue and green). Hold your loupe close to the screen and observe the powers of light.

Basic

"a phenomenon of light (as red, brown, pink, or gray) or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects"
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

As can be read from the above definition of color, to humans color is a perception constant. Merriam-Webster defines perception as "awareness of the elements of environment through physical sensation".

From this can be concluded that perception of color is a sensation that is different from person to person and is influenced by circumstances. People who are tired will most likely be less sensitive to color than those who are not. Photographers are well aware that objects have different colors in different lighting conditions. Furniture makers know that one should use only the fabric from the same dyed roll when covering a couch, as do tailors when making a suit as the circumstances in dying the fabric may chance rapidly, but subtle, when the dye-bath is cleaned or needs a new mix (causing a phenomenon named metamerism).

The same applies to gemstones. Gems look different under changing lighting conditions and a gemologist should be very aware of this. Blue sapphires look best during afternoon hours, while rubies are at their best behavior before noon and in the evenings. Some gemstones even dramatically change their hue between daylight and incandecent light.

Causes of color

main article: Causes of color

What we see as color is merely the reflection of light from objects.
As white light (from the sun or other source) shines on a gemstone, some of the wavelengths will be absorbed by the gem while others are reflected from and/or transmitted through the stone. It is the combination of these left over ("residual") wavelengths that are collected at the back of our eyes (the retina), and interpreted by our brains, that defines the color of an object.
How exactly an object absorbs light is explained elsewhere.

In order for color to excist there must be 3 conditions met:

  1. color vision
  2. an object
  3. light shining on an object

From these 3 requirements one ask a few philosophical questions, as: does an object have color in the dark? The answer should of course be no. In fact gemstones do not have color in light either, the color is produced by the interpretation of our eyes and brain. Which is different from one person to the other.
Under different lighting conditions gemstones appear to have a different color, which can be easily demonstrated by shining different colors on a white object, like a wall. If you shine "white" light on the wall, none of the spectral colors are absorbed by the wall and all is reflected back to your eyes. Making the wall look white. When one shines a green light on the wall, only the green portion of the spectrum can be reflected, hence the wall appears green.

Mixing colors

From a young age most of use are taught that if we mix red and green together, we get a black color (or at best a dark gray). The reason for this is that we were mixing paint. Mixing paint is subtractive color mixing.
For light it works different. When we would mix red light with green light, the result would be yellow light and this is termed additive color mixing.
Similarly if we mix red, green and blue paint together, the result will be black. But if we mix red, green and blue light together we get white light.

So when we think of light, we should completely forget about our Picasso minds.

Additive color mixing.jpg Subtractive color mixing.jpg
Additive color mixing of light Subtractive color mixing of paint

With additive color mixing, we start with no light and add colored light. When we are in a dark room and we shine a red light (as from a torch) on a wall, that spot will appear red. Now when we add light from a green torch to it, we get a yellow spot on the wall. If we then at blue light to it, the spot appears white.

For subtractive color mixing it works reversed. We shine white light on an object and the object absorbs portions of the light, subtracting that particular color from the light.

Lighting conditions

Proper lighting is crucial when attempting to colorgrade gemstones. Selecting the correct lamps may greatly effect the color you perceive.

Daylight

Sunlight has color temperatures between 2,000 and 28,000° Kelvin. In the mornings the color temperatures are lower and look more red to yellow. Around noon the color temperature will be around 5.500° Kelvin and in the afternoon the color appears to be more blue with a high color temperature. In the evenings, the color temperature drops and the light will appear again more yellow to red. As one might suspect, different times of day will have an influence on the colors of gems.
The standard in grading colored stones is light at 5,500° Kelvin, that is when the light from the sun is most white.

Fluorescent lamps are produced to mimic this daylight from the sun and a widerange of good quality lamps are available. Pay good attention to the color temperature when buying one.

Incandecent light

Incandescent light is light from a hot object like a flame or a tungsten lightbulb. Usually these lamps can not be produced with a color temperature over 3,000° Kelvin and are therefor not suitable for the colorgrading of gemstones.

Sources




Next: Color Grading

Return to the Table of Contents