Hobbies And Interests
Color
Amethyst's are stunning purple gemstones. All varieties of purple quartz are amethysts though they are collected in a variety of shades. According to Bernardine Fine Art Jewelry, deep violet, light lilac, lavender and mauve are common shades of amethyst stone. The highest quality gems reflect a deep to medium purple base with rose-colored flashes. Many amethysts on the market today are heat treated, according to Bernardine, which gives the stone a deeper color.
Crystal
Because amethysts are quartz crystals, they exhibit the same crystalline formation. They form long prismatic crystals with hexagonal patterns. The six-sided hexigons are clearly visible either on both ends of a long crystal or as druzes, which, according to Mineral Galleries, occur when crystals merely form a crust over an existing rock. In this form, they do not grow long but are instead a series of hexagonal points covering the rock surface.
Hardness
Quartz is high on the Mohs scale of hardness. The Mohs scale measures all substances on earth in relation to how resistant they are to scratching. It is a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being a diamond. An amethyst has a Mohs hardness of 7. A scientist could test whether or not an amethyst is real by scratching it on a piece of glass, which has a Mohs ranking of 5.5. If the amethyst scratches the glass, it is authentic. If it does not scratch the glass, it may be made of glass itself.
Locations
Amethysts are not very expensive because they occur commonly throughout the planet. The shape, size, quality and unique characteristics of the crystal is what make some amethysts valued more than others. The amethysts found in Guerrero, Mexico, are known for their deep purple color and are some of the most valuable in the world. Other areas have unique amethysts like Thunder Bay, Canada, where a red hematite inclusion occurs just beneath the surface of the crystals.