Amethyst colors
Buying Amethyst
Where is Amethyst found?
Common Amethyst Treatments
World-famous Amethyst
Amethyst gemology
Amethyst legends & lore

Amethyst colors
The color agent of amethyst is iron. The colors range from purple, violet to pale red-violet. Green amethyst is produced by heat treatment.

Buying Amethyst

Color
The deep colors are the most valuable, particularly a rich purple with rose flashes. The "Siberian" deep purple with red and blue flash commands the highest prices. Green amethyst, new to the market, is a result of heat treatment. The lovely mint green color is stable and permanent.

Lighting
In artificial light amethyst does not display a desirable quality. It looks best in daylight, more precisely, particularly just after sunrise and before sunset, when the light is soft and warm.

Clarity
A fine amethyst is transparent, which means, the light passes through the stone unhindered. A translucent amethyst slightly weakens the passage of the light through the stone. The best quality amethyst is "clean", free of inclusions of any kind. As the stone is plentiful, there is little reason to buy stones with visible inclusions.

Cut
Due to the roughness of the color distribution in the crystals, amethyst is often cut as brilliant round to maximize the color. Other cuts can be used when the color is better distributed. Amethyst is available in a wide range of calibrated sizes and shapes, including many fancy shapes.

Amethyst location and deposits
The most important deposits are in Brazil, namely the "Palmeira" amethysts of Rio Grande do Sul and the "Maraba" amethysts of Para. Other locations are found in Bolivia, Canada, India, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Russia, Sri Lanka, United States (Arizona), Uruguay and Zambia.

Common Amethyst treatments
Heat treatment of 878-1382 degrees F (470-750 degrees C) results in light yellow, red-brown, green or colorless varieties. Some amethysts can lose their color saturation in daylight. The original color can be restored by X-ray radiation.

World-famous Amethyst
None

Amethyst gemology
Species: Quartz
Color: Purple, violet, pale red-violet
Chemical composition: SiO, silicon dioxide
Crystal system: (Trigonal), hexagonal prisms
Hardness: 7 (Mohs scale)
Specific gravity: 2.65
Refractive index: 1.544 - 1.553
Birefringence: +0.009
Optical character:
Color of streak: White
Absorption spectrum: 550 - 520
Fluorescence: Weak, bluish

The Amethyst zodiac, myth & legend
The legend of the origin of amethyst comes to us from Greek myth. Dionysius, the god of intoxication, was angered one day by an insult from a human and swore revenge on the next mortal that crossed his path. Violent tigers should carry out his wish. Amethyst, a beautiful young maiden on her way to pay tribute to the goddess Diana was to become the victim. Diana turned Amethyst into a stature of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from the brutal claws. Dionysus wept tears of wine in remorse for his action at the sight of the beautiful statue. The god's tears stained the quartz purple, creating the famous gem.
Amethyst is the birthstone for those who are born in February or for the Zodiac sign of Pisces.

In Antiquity, as well as in the Middle Ages, people believed that the cosmos is reflected in gemstones. The amethyst is assigned to the planet Neptune. The esoteric movement revived the ancient believe and the gem industry made it another marketing tool to promote certain gems.

The healing powers of gems remain a controversial issue, but are mentioned for centuries by healers, shamans and medicine men. Whether its factional or a placebo effect doesn't matter, if it helps. The safest approach is to wear the gemstone in skin contact to the troubled part of the body. Amethyst is said to be of help for headaches, pancreas and backache.