Amethyst Education - February Birthstone

February Birthstone Amethyst

Birthstone: Amethyst
Moh's hardness: 7
Specific Gravity: 2.65
Color: Various shades of Purple
Chemical Composition: Si02, silicon dioxide

Shop Our AMETHYST Jewelry

Amethyst is the purple variety of the quartz family, and the most valued member of of the quartz family. It must be purple to be Amethyst, but it can display a range of shades including deep purple, light lilac, lavender, and mauve. Top quality Amethyst is a deep medium purple with rose-colored flashes. It's purple color made it a stone of royalty for many thousands of years.

Amethyst can occur as crystals that are six sided on either end. It also forms as drusy which are crystalline crusts covering the host rock. It is found inside geodes and in allucial deposits all around the world and occurs in both crystalline or massive forms.
When manganese is present in clear quartz Amethyst is produced, while the amount of iron contained in the specimen accounts for the depth of purple.

Most Amethyst gemstones on the marked today are heat treated to produce a deeper color. Heat treating is permanent and these stones will not fade over time. Unless otherwise stated assume that any Amethyst you purchase today has been heat treated to increase the depth of color. Also note that most Citrine available on the market today is actually heat treated Amethyst.

Folklore has it that Amethyst has been used to guard against drunkenness and is thought to be helpful in overcoming addiction. It has been used for hearing disorders, insomnia, headaches and other pain. Some sources suggest it is used to stabilize mental disorders.

Citrine Education - November Birthstone

Birthstone: November
Moh's hardness: 7
Specific Gravity: 2.65
Color: Light yellow to dark yellow
golden brown, brownish red
Chemical Composition: SI02,silicon dioxide Refractive Index: 1.544-1.553

Shop Our Citrine Items

The name Citrine comes from an old French word, "citrin", meaning lemon.
Citrine is as warm as a Van Gogh painting of Sunflowers, it is one of the more rare forms of quartz. This gemstone ranges in color from the palest yellow to a dark amber named Madeira because of its resemblance to the red wine.

The Romans were thought to be the first to wear the yellow quartz, crafting it into cabochon, or highly polished but unfaceted cuts of stone set into jewelry. Citrine became more popular during the Romantic Period, when artisans often favored these warm colored gems to enhance gold jewelry.

Citrine, like all forms of quartz, was believed to have magical powers.
Folklore has been said that Citrine is believed to help the heart, kidney, digestive tract, liver and muscles. It was also said that Citrine promotes creativity, helps personal clarity and eliminates self destructive tendencies .

Most Citrine is heat treated to bring out the color. Natural colored Citrines are found in Brazil, Madagascar,Spain and Scotland. Well colored Citrine are used as stones for rings and pendants, less attractive stones are made into necklaces or ornaments.

Colored Diamonds - A Fall Trend

The new wave in the jewelry industry and the fashion world is Colored Diamonds, which have become extremely popular over the last 3 years. In light of the growing interest in color diamonds it is important to clear the confusion between treated and natural color diamonds.

Technological developments now allow us to create diamonds of almost any color, either completely artificially or from natural Diamonds whose color is unattractive not clearly defined, yellowish, brownish etc. Such stones can be manufactured at will, resulting in the production of goods that are the exact contrary of what they are substituting for, diamonds by definition are unique, rare, and exceptional.

A natural Colored Diamond is unique. It is a product of nature, shaped by millions of years of crystallization. Its color is the product of chance and not two natural color diamonds can be identical, it is this uniqueness, this rareness that gives them all their value, and a high price tag. Natural Colored Diamonds are considered like any authentic work of art.

Diamonds that are treated to bring out there basic color on the other hand, still have a exquisite look and are unique on their own, with a much more affordable price tag to the consumer. The Colored Diamond Jewelry that OldCities offers has treated Diamonds. Please feel free to look at our fine collection, and let us know if you have any questions, 360-668-2658.

Shop Our Diamond Jewelry