February Birthstone
Traditionally, Amethyst is the Birthstone for February
Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz. Tradtionally, it is the gemstone of choice for a 12th anniversary. Amethysts can be any shade or hue of purple, from the palest lilac, to lavender, violet, grape, and all the shades in-between, up to a deep royal purple. Some amethysts have red-violet overtones, some have sections that fade to white, and some are found with yellow quartz which is citrine. For lovers of purple, amethyst jewelry is affordable, abundant, and easily obtained. One of the loveliest of all gemstones, it does not command an outrageous price,even in its finest qualities. Amethyst stones are lovely set in sterling, platinum, or white or yellow gold, and they are especially enhanced when surrounded by sparkling white diamonds. Below are some interesting beliefs about amethyst:
With a hardness of 7, on a scale from 1 to 10, amethyst makes a very durable gemstone for jewelry. By nature, amethyst has good luster, great transparency, and exceptional beauty. Some amethyst crystals are so large, that they are carved into figurines,bowls, perfume bottles, and drinking vessels. We once saw an amethyst geode that was almost as tall as I am! Interestingly, all amethyst crystals exhibit "twinning". Twinning is an intergrowth of 2 or more crystals, in reverse relationship to each other, caused by an actual reversal of atomic positions in the crystal lattice. Many of them show a "fingerprint" effect, when geodes of amethyst are split apart. Amethyst geodes are ALWAYS interesting! Often, amethysts exhibit a bi-color attribute, being found in combinations of clear/deep purple, pale lavender/deep purple, and purple of various shades/yellow. When the yellow and purple colors are found together, and cut as one stone, they are called "ametrine". Amethyst can be found in the U.S., Brazil, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Burma, Mexico,Australia, India, Russia, Canada, and in many other parts of the world. The chemical composition of amethyst is SiO2, or silicon dioxide. |