Hello and welcome back to the series on birthstones. It is February and so today we look at the magical Amethyst.
The amethyst finds itself within the largest semi-precious stone family; the Quartz family! But this is not one large pure-bred family. Oh no, the quartz family is made up of a huge amount of differing minerals and stones, all vastly different from one another. Many of these stones i am sure you have heard of, such as the Tigers Eye and Citrine. Whilst all as lovely as each other, we're here to talk about the Amethyst today.
Amethysts can come in all sorts of different purple tones, from pale lilac to deep purple. This has caused some degree of smoke on the water (pun somewhat poorly intended), as the deeper purple is seen as much more desirable, and therefore has led to a huge number of synthetics saturating the market. This has led to a far greater issue for semi-precious stones in that there has been a reduction in value, as well as confidence, in natural stones. It can be incredibly difficult to tell the difference between a natural and synthetic stone, and the same certainly goes for an amethyst. This is made even harder by the fact that natural amethysts are often heat treated, to enhance their colour to appear as deep a purple as possible. Whilst obviously beneficial to the wearer of the jewellery containing the amethyst, as a jeweller and pawnbroker, it becomes very difficult to know if it has been heat treated, or simply is a synthetic. If it looks too perfect, chances are it probably is.
Greece originally received the credit for discovering the amethyst, creating the name based on a mythological story. However, the finest amethysts to ever be discovered have been found in Russia, and the stone itself has been found in most places around the world, making it a relatively common stone. But the biggest and deepest amethysts are still very rare and very sought after. Due to its colour and durability, the amethyst has been used within jewellery for some time and will continue to be. It looks great within both yellow gold and white gold (silver and platinum) settings, and so you would be hard pressed to ever have difficulty in both finding jewellery containing amethyst, and thinking it looked anything other than beautiful.
Here we have some examples of jewellery featuring amethysts that we have in stock.
Here we have a very large amethyst set into a 9ct yellow gold ring. This amethyst comes in roughly at 3.20ct and features all sorts of interesting inclusions. secured within a 6 claw setting, this ring really is the perfect piece for an amethyst lover as it doesn't get much more amethyst than this. It is certainly not subtle, but with a stone as pretty as this one, I'm sure that will not be a problem.
Click HERE to view this ring in our shop.
This is a rather interesting pendant, featuring not only amethyst, but also pink sapphire and diamond. This is definitely not the piece for the more conservative plain wearer of jewellery, as this art deco inspired mixed cut pendant stands out from the crowd. Featuring 0.60ct of amethyst, this stone finds itself as the prominent element to the pendant, and thus is perfect for a fan of amethyst. Due to the fact it also holds a diamond and pink sapphire, it would also be perfect to a lover of all stones, pretty and pink and in-between. If you're looking for a very unique and amethyst featuring piece, this is the one for you.
Click HERE to view this pendant in our shop.
If subtlety is more your choice, then i could not think of a more apt and beautiful ring than this one. Featuring 0.24ct of amethyst and 0.10ct of diamond, this ring doesn't possess large stones, but it also does not need to. The amethysts surround the middle diamond to create an eye catching purple flower effect, with a diamond either side. Having the stones set into the ring allows to keep the ring on the more subtle side of things, whilst providing an incredibly vibrant and beautiful look, which will be more personal, than say, the first ring. A ring of this particular style will never go out of fashion, and is the perfect piece to add to your collection today.
Click HERE to view this ring in our shop.
Thank you for reading!
Written by Jamie.
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