Mint Green — A Pastel Colour Descriptor in the Coloured-Stone Trade
Mint Green — A Pastel Colour Descriptor in the Coloured-Stone Trade
Light, slightly bluish green applied across tourmaline, garnet, prehnite, and chrysoprase
Mint green is a trade-colour descriptor for a light, pastel green with a slight blue modifier, evoking the colour of fresh mint leaves. The term has no laboratory-grade definition but has become a useful shorthand in the contemporary coloured-stone trade for stones that occupy a particular pastel niche regardless of species. Mint tourmaline, mint garnet (grossular), prehnite, and chrysoprase are all marketed under the descriptor when their colour fits.
The colour position
In the GIA GemSet and similar colour-reference systems, mint green sits in the bluish-green hue range with light tone (around 30 to 50 per cent) and moderate saturation. The colour is distinct from emerald or chrome-tourmaline saturation; it is also distinct from the yellow-green of peridot. Mint reads as cool and fresh against either metal tone and is widely seen as a contemporary palette choice.
Species commonly described as mint
The most prominent mint-green species in the modern trade is grossular garnet from the Merelani Hills of Tanzania, where vanadium-coloured pastel grossular is treated as a category in its own right. Mint tourmaline — typically elbaite coloured by trace iron, sometimes with copper — is the second major category, with material from Afghanistan, Mozambique, Brazil, and Nigeria. Prehnite from Mali and chrysoprase from Australia and Tanzania round out the regular mint-green offering.
In the trade
Because mint green is descriptive rather than varietal, buyers should look at the species identification on any laboratory paperwork to know what they are actually buying. The visual category is genuine; the species behind it varies. Skyjems uses the descriptor as a search-and-display convenience while always identifying species and origin in the product description.