How to tell if it is bluish or yellowish green (Tsavorite)?

[hwm]

I know that for green stones usually medium dark slightly bluish green is preferred but I found it very difficult to tell between pure green, yellowish green and bluish green. Can you guys please enlighten me?



Is the below stone pure green? medium dark tone?


pure green? medium tone?



slightly yellowish green? medium tone?



yellowish green? medium light? <-- worst quality (color wise) out of 5?


slightly bluish green? medium dark? <-- best quality (color wise) out of 5?

 

[T L]

To me, I never see “pure green”

Green is always slightly yellowish or slightly bluish, at least to me. All of the above stones with the exception of the heart, are slightly yellowish. The heart is slightly bluish. Green is the most difficult color to photograph, so anything that looks bluish in real life, may look yellowish in a photo. Tsavorite is incredibly difficult to get an accurate photo of in my experience.

 

[demantoidz]

One way to literally check the color of parts of a photo is with the Gemewizard app, which has a free version but it looks like they took it down for android. It will analyze the color of the specific place you click on a photo and describe the color. Its not the most intuitive but it gets the job done.

I agree with TL that in gems at least, pure of any color doesn't exist. This is because a gem plays with light so much, that its bound to shift in one (or more) direction at least slightly.

I am not sure if the heart is bluish or if the darker tone is making me think its bluish.
This one is definitely bluish. But it may shift yellowish in some lighting.

Irsan-VVA GEMS- JAKARTA-BKK on Instagram: "#greengarnet #glossularite #tsavorite #bluishgreentsavorite #finetsavorite #highqualitytsavorite #finequalitytsavorite #vividgreen #vividgreentsavorite"

329 likes, 9 comments - vvagems on November 28, 2020: "#greengarnet #glossularite #tsavorite #bluishgreentsavorite #finetsavorite #highqualitytsavorite #finequalitytsavorite #vividgreen #vividgreentsavorite".

www.instagram.com

The best way for me to get my eye used to nuances in color (digitally) is placing them all next to each other in one image like so. I play around til they seem categorized appropriately according to modifiers. The left most are the most yellowish, the middle have the least modifiers, and the right are the most clearly bluish.
(I use https://www.befunky.com/create/collage/ to make these collages)



Regardless of how these stones would look next to each other in a more controlled environment, it gets the eye used to color nuance in photos/vids. And I might disagree with my placements of these images tomorrow.

 

[T L]

It’s funny because when I see a bluish green tsavorite, once I place it next to a fine emerald, it looks more yellow to me. There must be saturation or greyness at play here as well.

 

[demantoidz]

It’s funny because when I see a bluish green tsavorite, once I place it next to a fine emerald, it looks more yellow to me. There must be saturation or greyness at play here as well.

We get it, you like emeralds
Just kidding, thats an interesting observation

 

[budmanbudman10]

It’s funny because when I see a bluish green tsavorite, once I place it next to a fine emerald, it looks more yellow to me. There must be saturation or greyness at play here as well.

I've had the EXACT same experience lol. I thought my tsav had almost no or no yellow in it but beside an emerald it looks SO yellow

 

[VividRed]

The analogy of tsavorite / emerald reminds me of the one in red spinels / rubies. Red spinels (except fine gems from Namya) usually have an orange modifier that fine rubies do not.

Edit: typo

 

[T L]

Yes, so when certain tradespeople tout tsavorite as “emerald substitutes” or “emerald green,” well there’s no green like a fine emerald.

Sorry, I digress…

 

[demantoidz]

I would like to add that the Arusha mine is associated with producing more bluish greens than others. Sometimes its used as a marketing term at least on Instagram (Arusha tsavorite). That does not mean every stone from that mine is bluish green.

 

[hwm]

I think I get it better now but still confused when trying to distinguish between darker tone green and bluish green... I know that one is tone and the other is hue but it is just so difficult to tell

 

[CaseyLouLou]

I think I get it better now but still confused when trying to distinguish between darker tone green and bluish green... I know that one is tone and the other is hue but it is just so difficult to tell

I suck at color too but I’m slowly getting it thanks to this forum!

 

[demantoidz]

I think I get it better now but still confused when trying to distinguish between darker tone green and bluish green... I know that one is tone and the other is hue but it is just so difficult to tell

You could always ask the vendor for their honestly opinion, or more images/a video, before buying. I am still unsure about the modifiers of the darker heart based on that image.

 

[hwm]

Thanks all! Actually I am not intend to buy the stones... just want to get some practice on hue / tone / modifiers

 

[LilAlex]

I think I get it better now but still confused when trying to distinguish between darker tone green and bluish green

It just takes looking at a lot of stones.

And head-to-head comparison. If you show me a random "off-white" paint swatch from Home Depot, I may not be able to tell whether it is a warm or cool white right off the bat. May depend upon what I had just been looking at, ambient lighting, time of day, in a shadow, etc. But hold it up next to another off-white swatch and I (and you) will have no trouble telling which is the warmer (redder) and which is the cooler (bluer).

I like some blue to my greens and some violet to my blues. (Not so much for interior latex)