---
title: "Color zoning: meaning in gemology"
description: "Color zoning is uneven color in a gem: bands or patches of deeper and paler color."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/color-zoning
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · Colored gemstones

# Color zoning

Also called color banding, zoning

Color zoning is uneven color in a gem: bands or patches of deeper and paler color.

## In more detail

It is common in sapphire and amethyst. To check, place the stone table-down on a white surface; zoning shows best through the pavilion. Cutters place a dark zone low in the pavilion, so the facets spread its color across the face.

## Related terms

- [Sapphire](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/sapphire): Sapphire is corundum of any color other than red. The word alone means a blue stone; other colors take a color word, such as yellow sapphire.
- [Amethyst](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/amethyst): Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz. Iron in the crystal, together with natural radiation, causes its color.
- [Curved striae](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/curved-striae): Curved striae are curved growth lines or color bands in a flame-fusion synthetic. Natural corundum grows with straight, angular zoning instead.
- [Hue](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/hue): Hue is the basic color of a gem, such as red, blue or green. A second color can modify it, as in purplish red.
- [Pleochroism](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/pleochroism): Pleochroism is the property of a colored doubly refractive stone to show different colors in different directions. It happens because the stone absorbs its rays differently.

## Learn more

- [Sapphire 3D models and cutting files](https://digitalgemology.com/gemstones/sapphire)
- [Amethyst 3D models and cutting files](https://digitalgemology.com/gemstones/amethyst)
- [Asscher Cut Amethyst: a stepped square, a quarter lighter than diamond at the same size](https://digitalgemology.com/gemstones/amethyst/asscher)
- [Emerald Cut Sapphire: a long step cut that faces up a little larger for its weight](https://digitalgemology.com/gemstones/sapphire/emerald-cut)

[All 328 terms](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary)