Brazilian and African amethyst heart ring designs from $37 to about $50; wide selection of sterling silver amethyst engagement rings under $100; unique gemstone blends with citrine, amethyst, topaz, peridot and other precious and semiprecious stones between $60 and $70; unusual designer settings, gem clusters, antique and unusual pink amethyst ring creations; amethyst jewelry priced under $300; rare amethyst gold ring masterpieces from $260 to about $650; elaborate multi-gem cocktail rings under $1,000; 9k and 14k gold setting choices; special savings; super sale prices available – plus detailed information about amethyst gems, where they’re mined, how they graded and what they’re worth.
Pyramids and Crystalline Crusts
Alluring due to color, clarity, size, brilliance and affordability, the amethyst quartz crystal, once considered a precious and very valuable gem, remains one of the most popular modern stones used in jewelry.
Although the cost, and therefore the investment value, of the gem has plummeted due to abundant availability (with the discovery of massive deposits around the world), the fascination with the regal purple six-sided prismatic pyramids or sparkling crystalline crusts of druzy has not diminished in the least. In fact, the demand for both African and Brazilian gems has increased to the point that designers are crafting unusual, innovative and much larger amethyst eternity ring styles and engagement rings as well as adding the gem to claddagh rings and other Celtic jewelry.
Amethyst Ring With A Large Stone
Extra large amethyst ring designs are being made with huge gemstones that would otherwise be unaffordable to most clients, mixed with other semiprecious stones to create unique cocktail rings, and priced only a little above what synthetic and faux fashion or costume jewelry items are retailing for.
Imagine a 12 carat amethyst ring for under $100! It’s possible and available in items like the Hilary Joy pink amethyst ring that’s set in textured sterling silver.
And if the entire geode structure is desired as well as a gem, then there’s the CL by Design creation, which is an amethyst geode also set into a polished sterling silver band with a second polished amethyst gemstone alongside, like a second ring but attached to the single band. The oval amethyst is over 4 carats, while the geode is a freeform measuring 28 x 31mm. The entire piece coast just under $120. Unbelievable!
Where to Buy Amethyst Rings
There are many great online outlets and amethyst gemstone jewelry shops that have high quality products, a wide designer selection and very tempting prices. Just a few of the places are:
JeGems is one of the foremost online jewelry retailers who offer genuine amethyst ring designs starting at just a little over $30 for some simple creations and going up to around $300 for large and unusual settings.
JTV offers a great variety as well, such as the amethyst and peridot ring that features an amethyst that’s almost 2 carats in weight and is accented by peridots and diamonds and set in 10k white gold, costing just $170.
At HSN there are amethyst citrine ring combinations and really stunning emerald cut amethyst ring designs that retail from about $90 to $200. One of the most astonishing collections is from designer Carol Brodie who has created a line called Rarities. Rarities is a collection of fine gemstone jewelry set in sterling silver, like the octagonal ring that features a Brazilian Rose de France also called prasiolite, and is a form of quartz, also known as rose quartz often found with amethyst and also sometimes known as pink amethyst. Lighter in color, almost translucent white with a hint of pink-lavender color, the Carol Brodie ring is an exquisite large, dramatic piece of jewelry for just $199 through HSN. The large stone amethyst rings mentioned above, like the Hilary Joy and the CL by Design items, are also sold through HSN.
Jewels For Me offers some custom design ideas for amethyst engagement rings that are simple as solitaires or embellished with diamonds. Again the prices are so affordable that it’s heartwarming to show them to a bride-to-be who may be on a budget but wants something unusual. For example there are designs with large 2 carat amethysts and as many as 22 genuine diamonds set in 14k white or yellow gold for under $750, and lots of other alternative styles for Between $400 and $500, or for about $150, a really budget conscious couple may choose some sweet and petite styles with smaller gems, smaller accent diamonds but still really beautiful designs including some that are set in detailed filigree style bands.
What About Green Amethyst Rings?
When we start talking about specific colors, we end up needing to discuss the mining of the stones, their composition, what makes a gem be the color it is and what the uses are for these gems and if they are derived from the same physical element.
To start with, we’ll simply say that green amethyst is a quartz mineral, and as such is silicon dioxide and is more correctly prasiolite, praziolit,e Amagreen, Vermarine and is of the same variety of quatz that can be pink, smokey colored as in smoky quartz and is also part of what is known as citrine which is yellow or orange. Green deposits are not always as green as might be desired, so the gems may be heat treated to make them a richer color.
Oddly enough, the amethyst stone that we connect with the richest purple color will in fact change to greenish-brown, yellow and even orange when heated. Most of the green amethyst rings have used heat treated gems. However the composition of what we call amethyst and what is prasiolite is the same when it comes to crystal shape, hexagonal, and being quite hard.
The differences are that natural green amethyst are less abundant in their natural state – strangely enough being found in such different regions as Brazil (both Minas Gerais and Bahia) and Poland. There is also green amethyst in Africa (Tanzania, Namibia and Zimbabwe) and on the other extreme some in the US and Canada.
The different colors of amethyst can sometimes be discovered in deposits of various colors and formations near one another, often in veins, beds, pyramid crystal formations or inside what looks like a crusted capsule of volcanic rock.
While green amethyst jewelry is still relatively affordable, it is interesting that it is overall a little more expensive than the more famous purple, lavender or violet stones which are better known.
Many of the same online jewelry stores and dealers offer green and lavender or purple amethyst designs and sometimes pink and other light shades or heat treated varieties in unusual styles. To add to the list of good sources to buy jewelry, you can find excellent quality items also at Heavenly Treasures. Prices for elaborate ring designs are in the $400 and $500 range.
Before An Amethyst Gold Ring Can be Made…
The stones must be found….
The purple Amethyst quartz denoted by Greeks as being wine color yet being thought to prevent inebriation, are found in two main forms: the tall slender pyramids or prismatic crystals and the druzes, which in fact are just the crystal pointy tips inside crusts of other stones.
Like all gemstones, the locations where they are found determines color and composition. For example the variety that is mined in Mexico (Vera Cruz) tends to be a paler color, more a soft violet, and may even be clear, or may be colored on the outside and be clear inside giving them a very translucent quality. Yet, still in Mexico, the ones mined from a region called Guerrero are often very rich and deep in color and are likewise a dark purple on the inside, which creates the illusion that they radiate their color from within and not just from the light they refract on the surface.
The immensely famous amethysts that are mined from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil, and the ones from Rio Grande do Sul, and almost equally famed Bahaia region, are actually a type of crystalline formation known as druzy crusts and have developed in pockets or capsule-like encased deposits of volcanic rock. It’s very interesting to see the vugs, as they are also called, opened to exhibit their dazzling white and purple sparkling gems within. Often they are sold as they are, with the crust on the outside and the crystals jutting up within, as ornaments. Usually these types of crystals are white at the base and may also be slightly gray, and only the top areas reflecting the deepest of purple color ranges.
There are some Brazilian crystals that are sliced open and used to create unusual pieces of jewelry with flat surfaces, often multicolored, and sometimes used for pendants or icons because they may carved. These amethysts are most common in an area called Maraba, Brazil. The crystals may be very large, enough to create artistic works and sculptures in the gems, too large for jewelry, but ideal as art.
The amethyst that comes from Uruguay are also formed inside druzy crusts that are volcanic in nature and are similar to the Brazilian ones. However, some are known to be yellow, orange and even somewhat red rather than just purple. However, the purple tends to be medium and deep and is of high quality, often used in fine jewelry.
Canada also has amethyst that is unusual and distinctive to the region of Thunder Bay. It may be found with reddish inclusions of hematite and the cluster crystals are found in metamorphic rocks that are encased in druzy crusts but are in fissures just below the surface.
African amethyst gems are not always the best ones, however since they are large and can be polished and treated, they are used in jewelry that’s affordable, and to the untrained eye will appear as gorgeous as the better Brazilian or Russian ones. Since the crystals are often so large, they are often used for sculpture as well.
Russian amethysts are mined in the Ural Mountains and are thought to be the best in the world, which is why they are rare and not sold in cheap or discount amethyst rings but reserved the highest finest jewelry items. It’s interesting to note that they are so well prized that even none Russian amethysts may be graded as being Siberian, which simply means they of that grade or quality. The main grades of amethyst crystal gems are based on location of origin, such as Brazilian Bahain, Russian Siberian, and even Uruguayan. The majority of the world’s amethyst gemstones used in jewelry are from either Brazil or Uruguay (although there is some from Zambia and Namibia in Africa).
The variants in color are amazing when it comes to quartz crystals and the purple amethyst, as we have already discussed a little, is only one of the many types that are all considered similar and are used as gems and have a composition of silicone with color variations ranging from clear, yellow, green to blue, pink, purple.
The popular gem known as citrine, which is a gorgeous soft yellow or a deep vibrant orange may in fact be created by heating amethyst. Then there’s the prasiolite variety, which we have touched on, and this is not really true amethyst but is often called so and is green….making some people call the gem green amethyst when in fact it’s prasiolite. Rose quartz is also a form of stone with a similar composition as is Smoky quartz, which tends to be grey or brown and although is not amethyst is of the same family and can be mined in a similar region. All are silicon dioxide. The famous purple crystals are so colored due to impurities, or inclusions of iron. They are all quite hard gems, considered to be about a 7 on mohs scale however they do tend to be brittle.
What to look for when buying amethyst jewelry
It doesn’t matter if the gem is from Siberia, the standard of the best is Russian…Siberian quality is about looking for the deepest and richest purple possible and that will likely include flashes of red or rose colors and the best of all will have blue flashes.
When examining a ring, use natural light, and search for the best translucent clarity. You will not accept any flaws whatsoever that are visible. Amethysts are so abundant that only the flawless ones should end up in a quality amethyst ring. They will not have inclusions. You are not buying an emerald or a ruby which have natural flaws even in the best gems, but a stone that offers perfect clarity and translucency, so that light should pass through every bit of the stone. No excuses and no exceptions be the gems large or small.
When it comes to the best cuts for an amethyst, round brilliant is one of the most common because it allows multiple facets that accentuate the rich color and the translucent flawless clarity. However, since the gems are perfect, in most cases any cut will be gorgeous if done professionally and mounted to suite the cut.
Untreated gems will range in color from a deep purple to a light violet or even a pallid reddish pink-violet or may be quite transparent, almost clear. The ones that have been treated with heat between about 500 to 700 degree Celsius, may be yellow, orange, red, brown and even green.
By the way, the amethyst is the birthstone for February, but aside from the usual fun birthstone notions of pertaining to an astrological sign, amethysts are considered especially powerful gems for those who believe in crystal energy.
Their power is not just a new age idea but an ancient theory that was held by medicine men and those who used crystals to heal the body. In case you want to use sterling silver amethyst ring to test out the theory, try holding the gemstone to your skin and see if your headaches are lessened. It is said to aid those who suffer from backache and those with problems in the pancreas. As healing agents or not, crystals have the power of beauty and inspiration within their prismatic chambers that capture light and color like few other gems, including diamonds.
Photo Courtesy of National Geographic News
A Side Note About Crystals – Giant Crystals Within The Earth
While researching the way in which certain high quality white gold amethyst rings start out (as crystals in tubes and fissures and crusted volcanic cones and crusts, which are then cut and polished and crafted into jewelry), we came across some truly astonishing relatively new information about crystals.
In the year 2000, in an existing silver (and other semi-precious metals) mine (the Naica mines) in Chihuahua Mexico, due to pumping out massive amounts of underground mineral water, a cavern that was 300 meters below the surface of the ground was discovered. The Cueva de los Cristales (The Crystal Cave) contains the largest crystal formations ever seen on the planet. In temperatures that are as high as 50 degrees and with 100 percent humidity in the depth of this underground crystalline wonderland, the crystals reached weights of around 50 tons, with prismatic structures strutting up and out in all directions, in some cases as long as 11 meters.
Although these crystals will hopefully never end up as jewelry on anyone’s body, the awe they inspire is more than all the gems and crown jewels combined. The caves may well vanish once again into their watery depths when the mineral water the Naica corporation is currenly pumping out, in stopped. To view some more information about this crystal phenomenon here are a couple videos:
NAICA – A Caverna dos Cristais Gigantes
And Now….Back To Jewellry
For more information on amethyst and pearl ring designs as well some interesting creations with peridot and amethyst, as well as a unique designer amethyst ruby ring, please see related posts. If you’re interested in gemstone jewelry, be it affordable amber rings or high end vintage jewellery with emeralds and rubies, or the latest items crafted from diamonds or CZs, we offer what you need to know to buy everything from cocktail rings to investment quality emeralds.
Related posts:
- Pearl Ring Jewellery (Part XXI)
- Crystal Necklace Designs for Brides & Bridesmaids
- White Gold Tanzanite Ring Designs
- Genuine Emerald Ring Engagement & Wedding Sets
- An Amethyst Ruby Ring by Paolo Costagli
