![]() Not when you could compare Bolivian or Uruguayan amethyst for 25 cents per carat. Sounds cheap but when you multiply that times 3 to get a idea of material lost when cutting that is 6 dollars a carat then as Gene said cutting is the easy part but Zambian amethyst seems to be harder and take longer and a little more complicated to get a very good polish orient the gem as to not bee too dark and bring out the blue and red flashes it is know for can take some orienting time as well. I have to agree with Gene as I usually doĪs we are cutters and I know I have to watch what and how I spend my time at the machine as time is money.įor example 15 years ago Zambian amethyst was still 2 dollars a carat for cobbed rough. It can also be treated to produce praisolite (erroneously marketed as 'Green Amethyst')ĮTA: Although the premium colour for amethyst is called 'Deep Siberian', the finest amethysts have tended to be Sri Lankan, Brazilian and more recently Zambian rather than Russian. Quartz has about a gazillion different forms that can be used as gemstones, it can also be treated easily - 99.9% of citrine on the market is produced by heating the less desirable shades of amethyst. Tsavorite garnets are 200 times rarer than emeralds and are expensive - almandine garnets pretty much grow like weeds and are very cheap in comparision.īasically it comes down the the fundamentals of supply and demand. Stones such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds etc are very rare and extremely rare in fine qualities. The conditions needed for amethyst to form are uncomplicated (compared with emerald for example which theoretically shouldn't exist), they are relatively stable when subjected to wide pressure and heat ranges and are resistant to weathering. In the late 18th Century significant deposits were found in Brazil and the bottom dropped out of the market. The value was once the same as that of a white diamond of the same weight - at the time, most amethysts came from Indian, Sri Lanka and the Urals in Russia. Until the 18th Century, amethyst was considered a 'cardinal' gemstone along with diamond, sapphire, ruby and emerald due to its rarity. Quartz makes up around 12% of the earth's crust. ![]() It's the purple form of quartz and therefore available in large quantities. Ask our PriceScope members and industry experts for a second opinion or get lost in the thousands of user-shared diamond and jewelry images for inspiration. ![]()
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