February Birthstone

The Amethyst is a violet kind of quartz often used as an ornamental stone in a jewelry. Amethyst was derived from the Ancient Greek words "a" meaning not and "methustos" which means intoxicated. It is a basis to the belief that the precious stone protects the owner from being drunk or drunkenness. Ancient Greeks and Romans wore the Amethyst and made cups to drink from in the belief that it would prevent them from being intoxicated.

The Amethyst is a violet kind of quartz. During the 20Th century, amethyst's color was proven to be caused by the presence of manganese. Since it is capable of being changed and discharged by heat, the color was believed by some researchers to come from an organic source. The ferric thiocyanate was proven and sulfur was detected in the mineral.

Recent research has shown that amethyst's coloration is caused by ferric iron. There are also some studies that show the presence of iron and aluminum to cause its color. When exposed to heat, the amethyst becomes yellow and much of citrine or yellow quartz is said to be merely as burnt quartz.

The synthetic amethyst is made to imitate the best quality of amethyst. The chemical and physical properties are kind of similar to that of the natural amethyst. Sometimes it can not be differentiated with absolute certainty without the use of advanced gemological testing.

The amethyst is composed of an irregular superposition of alternate lamellae of left-handed and right-handed quartz. Research shows that the structure may be due to mechanical stresses. Since it has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs Scale, the amethyst is suitable to be used for jewelry.

The amethyst occurs in primary tones from a light pinkish violet to a deep grape purple. The amethyst can exhibit one or two secondary hues, blue or red. Deep siberian is the ideal grade and has a primary hue of 75% to 80%.

The amethyst was originally used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was largely employed in antiquity for intaglios. There are some ancient communities that believed amethyst gems could prevent intoxication while some European soldiers wore the amethyst as amulets for protection in battle. There were graves in England to prove that the Anglo-Saxon civilization wore beads of amethyst.

There are several descriptive terms that have been coined in the gem trade to describe the color of the amethyst. The "Rose De France" is a pale pinkish lavender or lilac shade.

The amethyst is produced in abundance from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It occurs in large quantities in volcanic rocks. The amethyst can also be found in South Korea.

The amethyst is considered as the birthstone for February and associated with the astrological signs of Pisces and Aries, Aquarius and Sagittarius. Amethyst is the symbol of heavenly understanding and of the pioneer in thought and action on the religious, philosophical, and spiritual planes.

Birthstones symbolizes a person's month of birth in the Gregorian Calendar. Commonly known as birthday stones and sometimes as an anniversary gift that is related to the recipient's age and year of birth.
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