---
title: "Tone: meaning in gemology"
description: "Tone is how light or dark a gem's color is, from very light to very dark."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/tone
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

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

# Tone

Also called color tone

Tone is how light or dark a gem's color is, from very light to very dark.

## In more detail

The most valued blue sapphires are medium to medium-dark in tone. Stones that are too dark or too light are worth less. A ruby that is too light may be called pink sapphire.

## Related terms

- [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.
- [Saturation](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/saturation): Saturation is the strength or purity of a gem's color, from grayish or brownish to vivid.
- [Pink sapphire](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/pink-sapphire): Pink sapphire is corundum whose color is pink rather than red. Chromium causes both its pink and the red of ruby.
- [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.

## Learn more

- [Fancy color diamonds and fluorescence: beyond the Z grade](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/four-cs/fancy-color-diamonds-and-fluorescence)

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