Amethyst
The essence of the colour purple, amethyst is beautiful enough for crown jewels yet affordable enough for class rings. Purple variety of the mineral quartz often forms large, six-sided crystals. Fine velvety-coloured gems come from African and South American mines. In demand for jewellery at all price points.
Amethyst is the purple variety of the quartz mineral species. It’s the gem that’s most commonly associated with the colour purple, even though there are other purple gems such as sapphire and tanzanite. Its purple colour can be cool and bluish, or a reddish purple that’s sometimes referred to as “raspberry.”
Amethyst’s purple colour can range from a light lilac to a deep, intense royal purple, and from brownish to vivid. Amethyst also commonly shows what is called colour zoning, which in the case of amethyst usually consists of angular zones of darker to lighter colour.
Birthstones & Anniversaries
Amethyst is the birthstone for February and the gem for the 6th and 17th wedding anniversaries.
Facts
Mineral: Quartz
Chemistry: SiO2
Colour: Purple
Refractive Index: 1.544 to 1.553
Birefringence: 0.009
Specific Gravity: 2.66
Mohs Hardness: 7
