A large, yellow citrine doubles as a whimsical tortoise's shell.
Yellow gems range from the palest champagne hue to a vivid orange-tinged gold. Their warm colors hold the same appeal today as they did to ancient Celts and Egyptians, both of whom prized sunny yellow gemstones. While some yellow gemstones are colorful variants of precious stones, others are affordable semi-precious gems.
Citrine
A well-cut citrine shows its warm color.
Gemologists and jewelers refer to any quartz with a yellow hue as citrine. The stone gets its name from its citrus-like range of colors. This inexpensive gemstone varies in hue from pale lemon yellow to a sunny yellowish-orange. Stones with more saturated, intense color fetch higher prices. Like other quartz stones, citrine holds up well to wear; it's a 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. Although it superficially resembles yellow topaz, citrine has a low refractive index. Its glassy luster lacks topaz's fire, but it costs considerably less than its rarer lookalike.
Canary Diamond
Diamonds naturally range in color.
Colorless diamonds fit most people's conceptions of the gem, but not all diamonds are white. While diamonds with a noticeable champagne tinge lose some value, stones with a true vivid yellow color command higher prices than all but the clearest white diamonds. Canary diamonds have all of a white diamond's characteristic fire, but in a brilliant yellow to yellowish-brown gem. The element nitrogen gives a canary diamond its color, but the gems are as durable as white diamonds. Both are a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale.
Yellow Sapphire
Durable corundum gems naturally occur in every color. If they're red, gemologists call them rubies; if they're any other hue, they're a form of sapphire. Yellow sapphires contain chromium and beryllium that tint them a true yellow or greenish-yellow. A rare, but prized, variation on yellow sapphire is the padparadscha sapphire which blends pink and yellow to produce a golden peach shade. Like other sapphire colors, yellow sapphires sometimes contain "silk," small directional inclusions that give the stone a velvety appearance.
Topaz
Topaz comes in many colors.
Although fashion jewelry has featured blue topaz for the past few decades, yellow topaz is the more valuable variety. Its color range overlaps citrine's, but topaz is a harder, heavier and more brilliant gem. Honey-colored also bears the name imperial topaz to differentiate it from blue varieties that are frequently irradiated and heat-treated.
Heliodor
Heliodor is the yellow member of the extensive beryl family of gems. It has the same chemical structure as emerald, morganite and aquamarine, but with iron and uranium impurities. The gem's name comes from Greek and roughly translates to "gift from the sun." Its sunny color can be anything from a springlike greenish yellow to an autumnal golden brown.
Amber
Amber remains a popular gemstone today.
One of the earliest gemstones known to man, amber is both a semi-precious stone and a relic of eons past. Unlike mineral gems, amber comes from an organic source; amber is fossilized tree resin from millions of years ago. Because of its rich yellow hue and its natural warmth -- amber is never cold to the touch -- the ancient Greeks called the stone elektron and associated it with the god of the sun who also bore the title Elektor, or "Awakener." Amber softens in heat and can even burn, giving off a warm resinous scent that made it a popular ingredient in incense.
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