The Colored
Gemstones Guide.
A GIA Graduate Gemologist's honest guide to understanding, choosing, and wearing colored gemstones in fine jewelry. From sapphires to opals, and including Anne's signature triplet and doublet designs — everything you need to know before you buy.
Triplet and doublet
stone designs.
Among fine jewelry designers, triplet and doublet stone construction is rare. It requires genuine gemological training to execute — and even rarer design instinct to make beautiful. Anne Sisteron is one of the few designers in Beverly Hills, or anywhere, who works with both techniques as a signature element of her collections.
These are not imitation stones or shortcuts. They are a distinct category of gemstone design with their own history, their own aesthetic, and a level of craftsmanship that conventional stone settings simply don't require.
What is a Doublet?
A doublet is a gemstone constructed from two bonded layers. Typically, a thin slice of genuine gemstone — often a sapphire, tourmaline, or another precious stone — is bonded to a backing material that supports it and enhances its color and stability. The result is a stone that displays the genuine beauty of the top layer at a fraction of the weight and cost of a solid stone. When set and worn, a well-made doublet is visually indistinguishable from a solid stone to the naked eye.
What is a Triplet?
A triplet takes the doublet one step further by adding a third protective layer — typically a dome of clear quartz or glass — over the top of the gemstone slice. This cap enhances the stone's brilliance, protects it from scratching, and deepens its visual effect. The technique requires genuine gemological knowledge to execute correctly and results in pieces with extraordinary visual depth that are entirely distinctive.
Sapphires.
Sapphires are among the most versatile colored stones in fine jewelry — and among Anne's favorites. While most people associate sapphire with the deep cornflower blue of a Kashmir stone, sapphires occur naturally in virtually every color: pale blush pink, vivid yellow, the rare padparadscha (a lotus-blossom orange-pink), deep teal, and rich violet. Only red corundum carries a different name — ruby.
With a Mohs hardness of 9 — second only to diamond — sapphires are exceptionally durable and genuinely suited for daily wear. Anne sets sapphires in 14k and 18k gold in rings, pendants, earrings, and bracelets. The stone's hardness and wide color range make it one of the most investment-worthy choices in the colored stone category.
Emeralds.
Emerald's vivid green is one of the most recognizable colors in fine jewelry — and one of the most complex stones to work with well. Emeralds are almost always included (the industry term for internal characteristics), and this is not considered a flaw. The French word for these inclusions is jardin — garden — because they create a unique inner landscape that makes each stone genuinely individual.
Anne selects emeralds for the quality and saturation of their color above all else. Set in gold, a well-chosen emerald is one of the most sophisticated choices in the colored stone world — bold without being loud, and deeply wearable across decades.
Tourmalines.
Tourmaline is, in Anne's view, one of the most underestimated stones in fine jewelry. It occurs in more colors than almost any other gemstone — from vivid hot pink rubellite to watermelon (pink center, green edge), deep indicolite blue, and the extraordinarily rare neon-blue Paraíba tourmaline. Each variety is distinct enough that they could be different stones entirely.
Tourmaline's relative softness compared to sapphire or diamond means it benefits from protective settings, but its color range and often-excellent clarity make it one of the most visually striking choices for statement pieces. Anne uses tourmaline extensively in cocktail rings, pendants, and earrings.
Rubies.
Ruby is red corundum — the same mineral family as sapphire, and with the same exceptional hardness of Mohs 9. The finest rubies display a rich, vivid red sometimes described as "pigeon's blood" — a deeply saturated red with a slight blue undertone that has been prized for centuries. Ruby is among the rarest and most valuable colored gemstones by weight, with fine specimens often exceeding the price of equivalent diamonds.
Anne selects rubies for color purity and natural origin, setting them in gold designs that let the stone speak without competing against the setting. Like sapphire, ruby's hardness makes it ideal for pieces worn often.
Opals.
No stone displays color the way opal does. The play-of-color — the technical term for opal's shifting spectral light — is caused by the diffraction of light through silica spheres within the stone. Each opal is entirely unique; no two display the same pattern of color, the same fire, or the same depth. It is one of the few stones in fine jewelry that cannot be replicated.
Opal is one of Anne's most personal stones. She is drawn to the way each one holds its own world — a shifting landscape of color that changes with the light and the angle of the wearer. Anne sets opals as the clear centerpiece of a design, letting the stone's natural fire speak without competition from the setting. The result is jewelry that feels alive in a way few other stones can achieve.
Aquamarine & Morganite.
Aquamarine and morganite are both members of the beryl family — the same mineral as emerald — but with distinctly different personalities. Aquamarine's pale to medium blue-green is cool, clean, and deeply wearable; it pairs beautifully with both yellow gold and white gold. Morganite's blush pink has become one of the most sought-after colored stone looks of the past decade, offering a feminine warmth that sits naturally in modern stacking and layering contexts.
Both stones tend to be more included-free than emerald, which makes them excellent candidates for larger statement cuts. Anne uses both in rings, pendants, and earrings where the stone's size and clarity let its color command the design.
Common questions,
expert answers.
Triplet and doublet designs work particularly well with stones that have exceptional color in thin slices — sapphires, tourmalines, and other vivid colored gemstones are among the best candidates. The technique allows a genuine precious stone to be presented at its most beautiful while extending its versatility across different jewelry forms. Anne selects stones for these designs based on their individual color quality and character, applying her GIA gemological training to ensure every piece meets the same standard as any solid stone setting in the collection.
For everyday wear, stones with a Mohs hardness of 8 or above are most practical. Sapphire and ruby (both Mohs 9) are the best colored stone choices for daily wear — they resist scratching and handle the knocks of regular use. Emerald, aquamarine, and morganite (7.5–8) are suitable for most daily activities but benefit from protective settings. Opals and tourmalines (5.5–7.5) are better suited to earrings and pendants where they are less exposed to impact. Anne considers wearability when recommending stones to clients and is happy to advise on the right choice for your lifestyle.
For most colored gemstone jewelry, gentle cleaning with warm water, mild soap, and a soft brush is safe and effective. Avoid ultrasonic cleaners for softer stones, included stones (like emerald), and doublet or triplet constructions — the vibration and cleaning solutions can damage the adhesive or the stone itself. Remove all fine jewelry before swimming, exercising, or applying perfume and hairspray. Store pieces individually to prevent scratching. Anne Sisteron offers cleaning and check-up services at the Beverly Hills boutique.
Fine colored stones — particularly sapphires, rubies, and emeralds of verified natural origin and good color — have historically held and appreciated in value. Unlike diamonds, where the market is more standardized, colored stone pricing is driven by rarity, color saturation, and individual specimen quality. A well-chosen colored stone piece from a credentialed designer can be both a genuine aesthetic investment and a financial one. Anne's GIA training ensures that every stone she selects is evaluated at a professional gemological level, not simply for visual appeal.
A doublet is a stone made of two bonded layers — a thin slice of genuine gemstone on a backing material. A triplet adds a third layer: a protective cap of clear quartz over the top. Both techniques are used by Anne Sisteron, a GIA Graduate Gemologist, and require professional gemological knowledge to execute correctly. The result is pieces with extraordinary visual depth that are genuinely distinctive.
Ready to find
your stone?
Browse the collection or visit us in Beverly Hills. Our team is here to help you find the piece that is genuinely yours.
Shop Colored Stone Jewelry ← Back to About Anne