Most gemstones reveal themselves through their radiant color. Thus, most of their names also derive from a color. Ruby comes from the Latin "red", Smaragd comes from the Greek for "green stone", and the Sapphire stands for the Greek "blue". However, the sapphire basically exists in all colors except red. The color itself usually comes from color-giving trace elements incorporated in the crystal lattice. Foreign atoms such as titanium, chromium, iron, nickel, vanadium, manganese, cobalt and copper cause the characteristic color. A single chemical element can produce different colors depending on the crystal structure, e.g., chromium gives ruby its noble red, but emerald its inimitable green.
In contrast to the colorfulness of these gemstones, perfect purity is sought in diamonds. The fascinating gems, often over a billion years old, were formed 150 - 300 kilometers below the earth's surface in a 1000°C hot environment. As opposites can be colored gemstones and diamonds, they are equal in their beauty worn as jewelry.