Amethyst Crystal Pyramid

Amethyst is the violet variety of quartz. SiO₂. Trigonal crystal system. Mohs hardness 7. The colour comes from iron held in the quartz lattice, worked on by natural radiation over geological time - colour centres that give the stone its range from faint lilac to near-black purple.

It forms in gas cavities within volcanic basalt. The great Brazilian and Uruguayan geodes grew inside cooling lava flows of the Paraná province, around 130 million years old; silica-rich water deposited quartz on the cavity walls, and the colour deepened toward the crystal tips. The colour is often zoned for exactly this reason.

A note on citrine: most commercial citrine on the market is heat-treated amethyst, turned yellow to orange in a kiln. The amethyst here is untreated - the colour is the one the stone grew with.

Asked often

Is the amethyst genuine and untreated?
Yes. The colour is the one the stone grew with - not dyed, not heat-altered. Most commercial citrine is heat-treated amethyst; this is left as it was found.

Why is the colour uneven across the stone?
Amethyst grows with its colour zoned, deepest toward the crystal tips - so a cut pyramid often deepens toward the apex. The variation is the stone itself, not a fault.

Will the colour fade?
Prolonged strong sunlight can pale amethyst over time. Set it out of direct sun and the colour holds.

How do I care for it?
Dust with a soft, dry cloth, or wipe with a barely damp one. Hard-wearing at Mohs 7; rest it out of prolonged direct sun.

1. Set on a desk, shelf, or windowsill, apex up.
2. Place it where daylight can pass through the faces - the violet deepens toward the point.
3. Dust with a soft, dry cloth; an occasional wipe with a barely damp one.
4. Rest it out of prolonged direct sun, which can pale the colour over time.

Many traditions set a stone where they will see it each day; where it sits, and what it marks for you, is yours to decide.

A piece to set down and return to. Keep it out of prolonged direct sun, which can pale amethyst, and dust it with a soft cloth. Hard-wearing at Mohs 7.

• Stone: Amethyst · violet quartz
• Composition: SiO₂ · silicon dioxide
• Crystal system: Trigonal
• Hardness: Mohs 7
• Colour: Pale lilac to deep violet · often zoned
• Treatment: None · untreated
• Form: Pyramid · four faces, cut and polished
• Origin: Brazil
• Care: Dust with a soft cloth · rest out of direct sun

The Greek name amethystos meant "not drunk." Across the classical Mediterranean the stone was carried as a guard against excess - Greeks and Romans carved it into drinking cups and signet rings, in the belief that it kept the head clear at the table. The association runs back to a Greek myth in which the maiden Amethystos is turned to clear crystal.

It was one of the cardinal gems of antiquity, set into the most important jewellery of Greece, Rome, and later Europe, and named by Pliny in the first century. For most of that history Europe’s amethyst came from Russia and Germany; the great Brazilian supply arrived only in the nineteenth century. What the stone has meant to the people who carried it is theirs, and now yours, to decide.