February is for Amethysts!

Here are a few interesting things about this month's birthstone: Amethyst

Needless to say, amethyst is the most popular purple gemstone on the planet. With a Mohs hardness of 7, it makes for a robust stone suitable for wearable jewelry like rings, necklaces, and earrings. Primary deposits of amethysts are found in South America and Africa. Amethyst is mined in such extraordinarily large amounts, that it is abundant enough to keep prices fairly affordable.

Amethysts have been known to be a very important New Age gem as it is believed among the New Age community to have healing properties. St. Valentine was known to regularly wear an amethyst ring. This beautiful gemstone comes in a variety of shades of purple.

Amethysts are typically found in cavity deposits inside igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Basically, they're usually found around areas that have had volcanic activity. When volcanic lava hardens, it's gaseous nature may cause a bubble to form within the lava, but hardens immediate into volcanic rock. The bubble remains unfilled within the rock, this is a cavity. The cavities get filled with silica-rich liquid and over time, the silica crystallizes into the form we typically recognize crystals as.

The famous purple that the amethyst is known for actually undergoes quite an interesting process in order to get that beautiful purple hue. The main culprit for the amethysts' luxurious purple color is actually iron. Iron would incorporate itself into the silica-rich liquid that fills the internal cavities. Once crystallization is complete, radioactive materials emit gamma rays into the crystal (from trace elements within the volcanic rock) which irradiates the iron and produces this purple color. Physically speaking, amethysts are physically identical to any other color variety of quartz; the only difference is the color.

Shop for amethysts today and bring a beautiful splash of purple elegance to your look!