This item was handcrafted with care and may have minor colour or decoration anomalies or defects. These inconsistencies are the consequence of human intervention in the process, and they add to the completed product’s charm while insuring you get a one-of-a-kind piece.

Amethyst is crystalline quartz in colors ranging from pale lilac to deep reddish purple. With a relatively high hardness of 7, the February birthstone is a fine facetable jewelry gem for all purposes. Lower grades of material can be cabbed, carved, and made into a great variety of beads and other ornamental objects.

Value for amethysts depends almost entirely on color. Siberian mines once produced the world’s finest stones. They featured a particularly rich purple color 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 colors similar to those of the amethysts mined in Siberia.

Although Siberian reigns atop the value listing, light-colored 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.

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.

Sources
Today’s major sources are Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Zambia. Brazil can produce stones of large size but generally moderate color. They often show uneven color, despite the best efforts of cutters to minimize it. Many gem enthusiasts prefer the usually smaller but more richly colored stones from Zambia as well as, more recently, Uruguay.