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Color on a Deeper Level

With so many gemstone color choices it may seem as if each gem has a completely different element responsible for its color, but that is not always true. In some cases it is the same element(s) responsible for the coloring in two different stones, but each one has been assembled in a certain pattern. For example: peridot (green) and garnet (red variety) both have a combination of oxygen and iron responsible for their color. Peridot has a central iron surrounded by oxygen in an octahedron shape, or a doubled pyramid. Red garnet however, has a central iron surrounded by oxygen in a cube shape. Even though the two gems have the same elements involved, their colors are opposites. In gemology the combinations of elements is crucial, as well as the shape of the chemical bonds themselves.