Amethyst
The Mythology and History of the Amethyst:
The amethyst is a member of the crystal family; it was treasured in ancient times and served as one of the birthstones for February with its nobleness, elegance and sobriety. There is a beautiful legend about amethyst in ancient Greek mythology.
It was said that Bacchanal Bacchus was affronted by the Moon Goddess Diana symbolizing virginity, and then he declared that he would make the first woman he met to be eaten by the tiger out of revenge. At the moment, a beautiful girl Amethyst came by his trail, Bacchus ordered a ferocious tiger to attack on her. Amethyst asked Diana for help in danger, seeing what was about to happen, Diana saved her and turned her into a pure stone thus protecting her. Seeing the whole shoot, Bacchus suddenly awaked, in order to express his regret he poured wine on the petrochemical body of Amethyst, then the stone became beautiful amethyst gradually that we refer to today as Amethyst, the gemstone of the gods..
This beautiful ancient Greek legend added a romantic halo on the amethyst which originally symbolizing nobleness, elegance, flamboyance, loneness, nobility, sobriety and ascendance.
As the legend associated with Bacchanal Bacchus, for a long time people has persisted in believing that it is good to drinking wine with amethyst hanap, because it will keep drinker clear-headed even if he has drunk excessively.
With the mythology surrounding the origin of amethyst, it is perhaps fitting that it was once considered a talisman to prevent drunkenness, which explains why wine goblets were once made from this gem. Indeed, it derives its name from the Greek word "amethustos", meaning "not drunk".
Amethyst's shades of purple have served as a symbol of royalty throughout history. Pharaohs, kings and queens, as well as leading lights in religious sects have long treasured it because of its rich, royal color.
Because amethyst is thought to encourage celibacy and symbolize piety, it was a key feature in the decoration of Catholic churches in the Middle Ages. Amethyst was considered to be the "papal stone".
What is Amethyst?
Amethyst is the most valuable variety of quartzes. It has a hardness of 7, its moderate refraction and its weight in common with the other quartzes, but the crystal structure is different, and it is most unconventional. The construction is stratified, as a result of which areas and lamellae of varying color intensity often come about. This explains why there are relatively few large cut amethysts of an evenly distributed dark color, in spite of its having been found so abundantly in all parts of the world. It is only in the last few years that scientists have been fairly certain of having found the real cause of the color. It is now attributed to certain iron constituents in connection with natural radioactive radiation.
The Color of the Amethyst
Crude amethyst contains iron, manganese and some other minerals, so it forms beautiful purple, the main colors are light purple, mauve, crimson, red, modena, royal purple and so on, the best of all is from dark mauve to mauve, and too light purple is more common. Usually there are crude ice cracks or white impurities in the amethyst.
The color of prefabricate amethyst is singular, differed from the change which from dark to light of the crude one.
Producing area of the Amethyst
The main producing areas of high-quality amethyst around the world are Brazil, Uruguay and Ural Mountains of the former Soviet Union, other producing areas are Sri Lanka, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, America, Madagascar and Iran.
Like many other gemstones, the quality of amethyst varies according to its source. Amethyst from the Americas can be found in large sizes as opposed to African amethyst (typically mined in Madagascar), which is small but carries a higher saturation in color. Dark, highly saturated, amethyst is also found in Australia. The Siberian variety is dark purple with occasional red and blue flashes and commands the highest price. However, the most prolific origin is Brazil, and if we were to believe Bacchus' wine was indeed the source of its color, Brazilian amethyst would have been born from the finest vintages.
In the early 20th century, an alarming amethyst sample has been found in Brazil, with length of 33 feet, width of 5.5 feet, weight of 35 tones, shaped like bread, color of dark royal purple and some amethyst crystals with good form arranged inside the crystal hole. It is indeed the most precious amethyst gemstone in the world.
Rose-purple France amethyst (also known as Lavender amethyst) is the name for Brazilian amethyst of a pastel lilac pinkish hue. Rose-purple France amethyst was a very popular Victorian gem and while Rose-purple France amethyst frequently appears in antique jewelry, it is currently experiencing a revival in popularity as part of a general awakening to the beauty of pastel gems.
The Use of the Amethyst
The use of the amethyst is very wide. It is always used to make jade carvings and ring surfaces. It is said that the Bishop of Rome usually wears an amethyst ring to avoid evil; there are a lap of pearls and a high-quality amethyst on the princess crown of Wales; Caesar enthusiastically pursued amethyst, even specially sent thousands of people to search for this ore to the Ural mine.
Our ancestors thought that the amethyst could bring businessmen riches and soldiers safety, it also could resist infectious disease and the idea of evil.
In addition, the amethyst is a commemorative gemstone for commemorating marring for 17 years, because it is easy to appear crack between husband and wife due to the heavy burden of life, the purpose of giving amethyst ornaments is reminding your partner to keep on the alert against devil's temptation.
In Europe and America, the amethyst is served as commemorative gemstone for 20th birthday and the birthstone of Aquarius and so on.
Care and Treatment:
The color and quality of most crude gems are steady, but the purple of the amethyst is not the most steady state. By roasting in a high temperature or being in an insulation for a long time, the amethyst will fade away easily even become steady buff or yellow. So we should avoid high temperature and insulation when wearing or collecting amethyst.
