< LEFT TO RIGHT: Silver and synthetic aqua-colored spinel ring from Stahl Design; ring by MB Designs; silver and imitation tanzanite ring by Stahl Design; silver and “amethyst” cubic zirconia ring from Stahl Design.

How does a gem’s color emotionally impact the buyer?
By Suzanne Wade

Brazilian jewelry firm MB Designs pairs warm-colored gems with yellow gold in its Chroma jewelry collection.

Imagine for a moment a world in which fire trucks are blue and stop signs are green. In this world, doctors' offices and operating rooms are painted bright red, and the water in swimming pools is straw-colored, reflecting the sunny yellow pool liner.

If we were to step into that world, we'd no doubt feel disoriented and confused. Blues and greens have supplanted the reds we normally associate with fire and the need for immediate action; reds are used in place of the cool shades that unconsciously soothe us in hospitals; and pools of water are an odd yellow instead of the blue color we expect. Even once we figured out the new color associations, we would probably still feel slightly uneasy, as though the world had been turned upside down.

Although some color associations are cultural - white is the color for weddings in the West, for example, while red is traditionally the shade brides don in Asia - others appear to be hard-wired into our psyches. Psychological studies have shown that no matter where you are, red and orange are associated with passionate emotions, while blue and green are calming. When asked to rank colors in order of preference, men and women the world over place red and blue at the top and yellow and orange at the bottom.

Color experts say that when buying jewelry, consumers often choose colors that reflect their personality. According to some, purple is popular among artists. The Acorn Bead necklace with 18K gold and amethyst from Robert Lee Morris.

"Research on the psychological aspects of color is difficult for the mere reason that human emotions are none too stable and the psychic make-up of human beings varies from person to person," writes noted color researcher Faber Birren in The Power of Color. "However, there are a number of general and universal reactions to color which seem to be noted in most persons."

According to color psychologists, women tend to prefer red, which can turn into good ruby sales for jewelry stores. 18K gold and opaque ruby necklace and cabochon ring from Henry Dunay.

According to Birren, those reactions include finding red stimulating and green relaxing. Studies have shown that people demonstrate faster muscle responses under red light, while green light slows the muscles down. Blood pressure and pulse rate can be lowered by exposure to a color the subject finds pleasing.

Although less well-documented, the belief that red is stimulating and blue calming has led stadium managers to paint locker rooms red for the home team and blue for the visiting team. Blue-painted classrooms for children with discipline problems were reported to have reduced unruly behavior.

Other studies have pointed to other color reactions. Pink rooms are sometimes used in prisons to hold violent prisoners because pink seems to have a calming effect. Students have been shown to make fewer math errors when they work out problems on yellow paper or in a yellow room.

But as Birren observes, it is difficult to know where biology ends and culture begins. Blue and green may be calming to us because we associate them with green meadows and calm waters. Red may be stimulating because we have been conditioned to think of it as the color of passion and danger. But whatever the source of our reactions, they are predictable - and they may influence our decisions more than we realize.

"There's a sense of relaxation that goes along with warm colors and a sense of appreciation or romanticism that can go with cooler colors," says Cynthia Cornell, a color consultant with the Institute for Color Research. According to Cornell, marketing studies suggest 60 to 70 percent of a purchase decision will be based on the color of the item being bought.

Silver and synthetic aqua-colored spinel jewelry from Stahl Design.

"A more educated consumer will deny [that the color] is a component," she observes. "They will say they're looking for particular features, a shape or a form or a particular brand. Then, once you actually discuss the final decision-making process - why they selected this particular item - color will always be in the mix."

The power of color to close a sale has long been noted by purveyors of everything from soap powders to computers. Red is a favorite color on packaging, since its tendency to get the blood pounding also encourages the consumer to buy the product. Detergent is often packaged in white and green containers, meant to convey a "fresh" image. When Apple introduced a new line of computers, they offered them in brightly colored cases intended to convey excitement.

Of course, a ruby isn't picked off a shelf from among a multitude of nearly-identical competitors the way laundry detergent is. In gemstones, unconscious reactions to color are probably less significant than the customer's sense of style or the gem's perceived value.

Designers often follow the rules of color by combining cool colored stones — like blue, green, and purple — with cool metals like silver or platinum. Sterling silver and imitation tanzanite jewelry from Stahl.

"If I am looking for the glistening appearance of diamond, I will not accept peridot or topaz," says Cornell. "It's as if you wanted blackberry pie for dessert and someone offered cheesecake. When someone comes in and says they want sapphire, they are looking for the qualities inherent in that stone."

Nevertheless, color remains a significant part of the purchase decision. "Color can never be separated in purchasing a gemstone," observes Cornell. "There's an immediate emotional connection to metal and jewels . . . We celebrate marriages, engagements, births [with them]. So you have a product that in my estimation is one of the most powerful color experiences in people's lives."

As a result, it's quite likely more than simple coincidence that red - thought to stimulate the passions - is the color associated with Valentine's Day.

"Most women love red. It's a very popular gemstone color, very popular lipstick color, and that kind of thing," says Margaret Walch, president of the Color Association of the United States (CAUS). "Most women generally like warm stones . . . Red is energy and femininity, and all that symbolic value."

Walch also notes that the fashion palettes predicted by the CAUS generally follow political and economic cycles. "Generally, when the economy is weak, there is a movement toward conservative colors. These are tried-and-true colors - royal blue, ultramarine blue, ruby red," she says. "There are colors that are very standard: black would be popular, gold, and silver. They are very basic colors, and there are fewer of them. When the economy is very good, people prefer more color and wilder color, like hot pink tourmaline."

Silver and “amethyst” cubic zirconia jewelry from Stahl Design.

Color coding is also apparent in people's preference for certain stones set in certain metals. For instance, there is an instinctive acceptance of warm colors set in "warm" metals, such as rubies set in gold, and the cool blues and greens and violets set in metals like silver. "The classic combination is the [American] Indian one of turquoise and silver," observes Walch. "I can't honestly say I'd recommend [combining warm and cool colors]. It's a bit of a contradiction: The warm and the cold are at war."

Memory is also powerfully intertwined with color. "Whether we grew up in India or Japan or Des Moines, Iowa, we will have memories [of colors] that are naturally occurring," says Cornell. "What [colors] our parents wore, what our mother wore in the kitchen, where we played, what type of soil was there, what kinds of trees, what kind of sky - both night and day." The shades we saw every day as children influence our preferred colors when we grow up.

As a result, rather than asking a customer, "What's your favorite color?" Cornell recommends asking, "What color makes you happy?" Although most people have favorite colors - studies suggest up to 90 percent of the population harbors some preference in color - that favorite color may not be the one they are most likely to buy.

"Women will very quickly [name their favorite color], and then they go, 'But I don't ever wear that color,' " says Cornell. "They may say, 'My favorite color is red, but I don't look good in red,' so favorites and function are not necessarily compatible. That's why I would never ask, 'What's your favorite color?' Instead, [a jeweler might] say, 'Look at this group of gems . . . Which color makes you happy? What color says, 'I'd like to wear that?' "

Maija Neimanis pairs citrine and garnet to create a warm feel in these 18K yellow gold “Tree of Joy” earrings. Photo by Ralph Gabriner.

Many customers will also provide hints about their preferred colors in the form of the jewelry they walk in wearing. If a customer is wearing lots of gold jewelry, for example, you might show her red or yellow gems, which may appeal to a personality that favors warm colors, suggests Walch. "They're going to move a little. They don't want to duplicate exactly [what they're wearing], but people don't make enormous leaps," she says.

Birren's research also suggested that certain personality types prefer certain colors. Extroverts are more likely to favor red, for example, while introverts tend to prefer blue. Purple is popular among artists, Birren writes, while yellow is chosen by the person with a strong spiritual or mystical bent.

Whether further research will reveal deeper links between our personalities and the colors we surround ourselves with remains to be seen. But in a world where so much of our lives are spent in gray office cubicles and muted urban landscapes, it seems likely that our deep psychological need for color will send us seeking it wherever it can be found - including the gems we adorn ourselves with.

"Color is about feelings, what you feel good in," says Cornell. "We're not buying gemstones to heal ourselves, as we did in medieval times, but there are healing properties [in color]. We're just on the cusp of understanding the impact of color in a world where spaces are so small and lifestyles are so narrow. I think light and color will be paramount in the next century."

Color Connections
How does color affect people?