Amethyst for Anne

My favorite book from childhood is Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I love Anne, the main character. She has so much enthusiasm and is so excited by life. I love this passage, where she talks about amethyst:

“I think amethysts are just sweet. They are what I used to think diamonds were like. Long ago, before I had ever seen a diamond, I read about them and I tried to imagine what they would be like. I thought they would be lovely glimmering purple stones. When I saw a real diamond in a lady's ring one day I was so disappointed I cried. Of course, it was very lovely but it wasn't my idea of a diamond. Will you let me hold the brooch for one minute, Marilla? Do you think amethysts can be the souls of good violets?"

Like Anne, I love the beauty of amethyst. I hope you will agree with us that it is worth the admiration.











Featuring artisan handmade creations by the Etsy Starving Artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current Etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.

Amethyst for February

Amethyst is a beautiful purple gemstone that has long been valued by humans.

Ancient Greeks believed that amethyst helped to ward off drunkenness, and often drank from wine goblets carved from it. Wouldn’t those goblets have been beautiful to see?

Soldiers in medieval Europe often wore amethyst amulets in the belief that amethyst brought good fortune in war.

Amethyst has been engraved and cut into sculpted forms since ancient times.


Intaglio of Roman Emperor Caracalla, circa 212 AD - photo copyrighted by Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons

Amethyst is a variety of quartz. It is always purple, but the shade can vary from the palest lavender to the darkest purple. The presence of iron impurities in the quartz is what gives it its beautiful regal purple colour.

Amethyst Crystals - photo by Ben Sutherland/Flickr

Amethyst was considered to be a precious stone (along with diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire) until the 19th century when new deposits were discovered in South America. The new found abundance of the mineral brought down the value of amethyst and today it is considered a semi-precious stone.

Amethyst is the birthstone for February.

Faceted amethyst gemstones - photo by opacity/Flickr

A moderately hard stone, 7 on Moh’s scale of hardness, amethyst is appropriate for use in all types of jewelry. However, it can lose some of its colour in sunlight, so it is best to store it in a dark place like a jewelry box or drawer, rather than leaving out on your dresser.

Amethyst is often heat treated to produce a darker colour. Some poorer colour quality specimens are heat treated to change their colour. At that point they are no longer considered to be amethyst but rather prasiolite if green or citrine if yellow.

Amethyst is used in a wide variety of jewelry. Here are some pieces made by members of the SATeam.

Featuring artisan handmade creations by the Etsy starving artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current Etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.