Grape amethyst1/13/2024 The only protection you have is buying from a reputable source. Identification of these gems is often more expensive than the value of the gem itself. Both top Siberian colors and ametrine synthetics are commonly seen in the market. I have always felt that this was one of the best values in any gem due to its single source, beautiful color and lowest price of any bi-color gem.Īn issue of concern to the amethyst buying public is the availability of synthetic amethyst that for even the experienced jeweler identification is generally not possible. The true nature of its color has been disputed over the years but it has been proven to be of natural color and not treated. This unique material is part amethyst and part citrine. I believe the source is Maralombo.īolivia is the source of the bi-color amethyst known as ametrine. In my travels the finest source of all is Madagascar due to the intensity of the secondary blue and red colors in the deep concord grape color amethyst. Amethyst is also mined in Colorado and Maine. North America has limited quantities of amethyst, most notable are Thunder Bay in Canada on Lake Superior and Four Peaks in Arizona. These crystal are also cut with amethyst only but the color is of lower quality compared to other sources. Bolivia is famed for it bi-color ametrine featuring violet of amethyst combined with the golden color of citrine. The high crystal character produces a deep color with excellent brilliance. This material was unusual for it crystalline shape and unusually high clarity making this material a cutters dream. After the Zambian source played out a new supply was discovered in Uruguay. The pink and bi-color clear and purple amethysts are unique to Brazil. Rarely the top Siberian colors but Brazil is famed for its quantity and size of its amethyst found a Maraba, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia. Brazil has been the producer of the largest quantity of material over the years. Little material has been seen from this source since the mid 1990s. A single piece of larger rough often required 10 saw cuts to get to clean material that could be faceted. The problem with this material for the cutter was the large amount of inclusions that had to be worked around. In the 1980’s through the 1990’s the top source was Zambia which produced large quantities of top material with blue and red secondary’s that produced a velvety color that at the time was unrivaled. The top material is named after a source in Russia although I personally have never seen a top color amethyst from Siberia. I found this material from a Brazilian dealer in Tucson in 2011. This material was last available 30 years ago shortly after I started in the business and then were not available for more than 25 years. Recently lavender pinks have been found in Brazil that can occasionally have the look of fine kunzite and morganite. The advantage of some of the lighter colors is that they can exhibit excellent brilliance. With proper cutting all of these colors can be very attractive. The top colors will exhibit this secondary red or blue flashes of color and only can be seen in the deeper colors of amethyst.Īmethyst is more commonly found in tones from light purple and violet to lavender pink. This color is the color of concord grapes with a secondary red flash when viewed in incandescent lighting. As common as the mineral quartz is, the finest amethyst commonly known as “Siberian color” is quite rare. Quartz is the most common mineral in the earths crust. Amethyst is the violet to purple form of quartz.
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