Glittering Stones » Gemstone Facts » Precious & Semi Precious Stone Facts » Amethyst

Amethyst - "Earth's beautiful stone"

The name Amethyst comes from Ancient Greek “not intoxicated”.

Amethyst is a reference to the belief that the gemstone protects against drunkenness and it prevent intoxication. According to Greek mythology, it is considered that amethyst was created when Dionysius, the god of intoxication was angered by mortal’s insult.

In Tibet, amethyst is considered to be sacred to Buddha and rosaries are fashioned from it. Amethyst is a highly valued member of quartz family and its purple hue vary from very pale to dark.

Amethyst composes irregular superposition of alternate lamellae of right handed and left handed quartz.

It occurs in primary hues from light pinkish violet to deep purple and also exhibit one or both secondary hues red and blue. The medium dark to dark tones are considered to be most valuable than the lighter tones.

Semi Precious Stone Amethyst

Color: Violet

Birthstone: February

Anniversary: 6th Year Stone

Stone History

The Chronicle origin of the gem amethyst comes as of from Greek legends. Bacchus “The God of wine” one day was insulted by a mere mortal. He swore the next mortal that crossed his path, would be attacked by his fierce tigers. Beside came a beautiful maiden named Amethyst. Goddess Diana turned Amethyst in to a beautiful statue of quartz to save her from the tiger claws. Remorseful Bacchus wept tears of wine over the stone maiden, creating the dynamic purple stone.Purple - The Royal Color so it is not surprising that amethyst has been popular through the history. They are evidenced that around 3,000 B.C in Egypt and in anterior Asia were made jewels of Amethyst.

Description

Amethyst is the most expensive apparent, coarse-grained diversity of the silica mineral quartz that is valued as a semiprecious gem for its violet color. It contains more iron oxide Fe2O3 than any other variety of quartz, and experts believe that its color arises from its iron content. Other theories attribute the color to contained manganese or hydrocarbons.

All forms of quartz (including amethyst) are piezoelectric, making for significant applications in electronics.

Color

Found in loads, in its purest form, Amethyst is colorless. The finest eminence Amethyst is medium to medium dark in tone, glowing in intensity, and purple, reddish purple to bluish purple in hue.

Heating removes the color from amethyst or changes it to the yellow of citrine. Most commercial citrine is made in this manner.

Varieties

Oriental amethyst, or purple sapphire, is not quartz but a variety of corundum, a much harder and rarer stone.

Amethyst as Birthstone

Amethyst is considered to be birthstone for the zodiac sign Aquarius (Water Bearer) during the month Jan. 20 - Feb. 18. It’s an anniversary gemstone for the 4th and 6th year of marriage.

Therapeutic ability

Amethyst magnifies psychic abilities and right-brain movement. It strengthens immunity, while energizing and purifying the blood. Amethyst relieves headaches, improves blood sugar imbalance.

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Amethyst is heat sensitive and excessive heat may cause the stone colorless resulting in colorless quartz, yellow citrine or green color. It is highly found in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Madagascar, Zambia, US, Canada and India. Since it has a Mohs scale hardness of seven, it is suitable to use jewelry.