Amethyst ("Rose de France")

Item Description

Amethyst is one of the most well known gems in the world. It is also amazingly enough one of the very few PURPLE gems in the world as well, despite being fairly common. The shades of purple in Amethyst range from the light most pastel violet to the deepest "Siberian" purple. The ligher (almost pinkish) shade of Amethyst is often referred as "Rose de France". This material was a very popular Victorian gem and while Rose de 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. This stone is a beautiful, classic Rose de France Amethyst with great size, clarity, cutting and color. The stone has an "Oval" cut, and would make for a great addition to any gem collection, or possibly for an impressive/large piece of jewelry. For the size and quality of the stone, it is certainly well worth the $250 starting bid. A little background on how Amethyst gets it's name: "The name Amethyst is derived from the Greek word amethystos which translates as "not drunken". This word in turn is believed to originate in the Greek legend of Dionysus, the God of wine and mischief, who was angered by an insult from a mere mortal. As a result of this insult, he swore revenge against the next mortal who crossed his path. The next unfortunate mortal to cross the path of Dionysus was a beautiful young lady named Amethyst who was on her way to pay tribute to the Goddess Diana. The Goddess Diana saw Amethyst's plight, and seeing that she was in danger, Diana transformed Amethyst into a pure, clear crsytalline quartz statue in order to protect her. Upon seeing the beautiful clear quartz statue Dionysis regretted his actions and wept tears of wine over it in remorse. This wine, in the form of tears from a God, stained the clear quartz purple creating the gemstone we know today as Amethyst."