List of White Gemstones

Gemstones offer jewelry makers a palette of colors to work with to create a variety of designs and looks. White is associated with purity, and in many cultures brides wear white to symbolize their virginity. White gemstones give meaning to the pieces that jewelers create or can be used as an accent for another colored gemstone.

Moonstone is found in a variety of colors including blue, red, yellow and orange. The moonstone is part of the feldspar group of minerals. The various layers of minerals in the stone cause light to be reflected from the inside, giving moonstone the appearance that it is lit from within.

White opal is one of many varieties of the opal gemstone. Milk opal is another name for the white opal. Common opals are gemstones that do not have the play of other colors in the stone. Precious opals have the distinctive "fire" in the stone that projects various colors. Milk opal may refer to a common opal or a precious opal.

Quartz is a mineral that produces a number of gemstones including amethyst and rose quartz, commonly used in jewelry. Milky quartz, or white quartz, has a milky-white hue to the translucent stone. It is not often used as a jewelry gemstone, according to Minerals.net.

Pearls form in oysters, clams and mussels as the mollusk secretes nacre around an irritant such as a grain of sand inside its tissue. Pearls come in a variety of colors; white is the most popular. The color of a pearl depends on the water the creature is from and the conchiolin in the secreted substance, according to a University of Texas at Austin Department of Geological Sciences website.

Coral is made of tiny sea creatures that form on top of each other to create coral reefs. Coral is available in pink, red, black, blue and white. The hardened sea creatures are used in jewelry and decorative items in all colors.