Amethyst Gemstone Colours.
Amethyst is crystalline quartz in colours ranging from pale lilac to deep reddish purple. With a relatively high hardness of 7 and no special care requirements.
February Birthstone , is a very popular colour for Jewellery Gemstone for all purposes. Lower grades of material can be cabbed, carved, and made into a great variety of beads and other ornamental objects.
Amethyst Value
Value for amethysts depends almost entirely on colour. Siberian mines once produced the world’s finest stones. They featured a particularly rich purple colour that glowed with red and blue flashes. Today the term “Siberian” no longer refers to origins. Instead, this is now a trade and grade term referring to colours similar to those of the amethysts mined in Siberia. Stones with Siberian colour command the highest prices.
Since amethyst is readily available in large sizes, its value per carat climbs gradually, not exponentially. Since this stone is plentiful, there is little reason to pay top dollar for pieces with visible inclusions or inferior cutting.
Amethyst Cluster Medium
Amethyst Information
Is a Variety of Quartz.
Crystallography– Hexagonal.
Colours– Pale Lilac to deep reddish purple.
Hardness—7
Comments
Although Siberian reigns atop the value listing, light coloured Amethyst has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. The lightest, pinkish violet shades are called “Rose de France,” a clever bit of marketing. The artistry of gemstone faceting can shine through these gems if given fancy and unusual cuts.
This variety of Quartz receives its colour from the presence of iron and other trace elements as well as natural irradiation.
Amethyst has popular associations with purity, spirituality, and the calming of passions. Perhaps the most famous bit of folklore for this stone connects it to the prevention of drunkenness. For more on myths and traditional beliefs relating to this gemstone.
Synthetics
Amethysts can be grown hydrothermally in labs. They can also be created by bombarding specially prepared smoky quartz with gamma rays.
Enhancements
- Heat treatments can lighten amethyst, turning it green, blue, or yellow/orange. (Occasional, undetectable, stability excellent).
- When heated to 400–500º C, amethysts may turn brown, red, and sometimes a green color. These green gems are sometimes sold as “greened amethyst” or prasiolite.
- Heat treatments of both natural and synthetic amethyst can produce similarly coloured material (ametrine). Such stones are indistinguishable from natural ones.
- Irradiation plus heating may also produce brown, orange, and yellow hues.
-
Sources
Today’s major sources are Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Zambia. Brazilian stones can be found in huge sizes but are generally moderate in color. They often show color-banding, despite the best efforts of cutters to minimize it. Many gem enthusiasts prefer the usually smaller but more richly colored stones from Zambia and, more recently, from Uruguay.
- Where I live in North West Qld Australia there is lots of different colours of Amethyst. I like the light to dark Amethyst.
-
Brazil; Bolivia; Zambia; Russia; Namibia; Australia; Nigeria; India; Uruguay; Mexico: Arizona; North Carolina.
Stone Sizes
In terms of size, amethyst is one of the exceptions of the quartz family. Most quartz can grow quite large and be cut into gems weighing thousands of carats. However, there are few clean examples of amethysts of 100 or more carats.
Amethyst is rare in very large, transparent masses. The fine gems at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.) are exceptional, such as the 1,362-carat Brazilian stone and the 202.5-carat stone from North Carolina.
- In Australia I have seen a lot of different Amethyst from all over the world. There is a place called, the Cave. and most of there Amethyst has come from Brazil.
If you live in Australia and want to go Fossicking for Amethyst, Look up the Mt Isa Lapidary Club, they have day trips out to find Amethyst.
If you just want to Buy some of Australia Amethyst ge
The price of postage is not cheap. But buying Amethyst of the internet is cheap, you do not have all the expense of driving out and hours spent fossicking.
Have a Great Day