Green is the color of vegetation, growth, rebirth and fertility. It also symbolizes safety and in Western cultures, good luck. Green instead of yellow is one of the primary additive colors (for color projections); hence, the RGB (red, green, blue) color system used in graphical displays. Green gemstones include emerald, malachite, green aventurine, jade, prehnite, and tsavorite garnet.

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Green is associated with a relatively wide band of wavelengths (75nm, from 495nm - 570nm), second only to red. Of the 120 Crayola crayon colors, the top two are red (23 shades) and green (20 shades). "Caribbean Green" was the top rated green color in a Crayola 2000 survey, coming in at #6. Other favorites are "Tropical Rain Forest" and "Forest Green".

For jewelry, there are a variety of lovely green minerals: emerald, malachite, green tourmaline, jade, vesuvianite, tsavorite garnet, green amethyst, prehnite and aventurine. Of these, it is common for emerald to be oiled (coated with thin sheen of clear oil or paraffin wax) to improve appearance but the other stones are generally not treated.

For years, the most common Swarovski crystal greens were "emerald" and "chrysolite", but lovely new shades of "fern green" and "dark green moss" have been added. Dyed dark green pearls have a nice look, as do dark green wood beads. Silk ribbons look terrific but they do require regular washing and "fluffing" to maintain their appearance.

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