Judging quality
The prize is a crisp, straight boundary between saturated purple and clear gold, with both colors strong. Diffuse or pale zoning, and synthetic ametrine, are both widespread.
Quartz
Ametrine
A single quartz crystal zoned into amethyst purple and citrine gold, formed where differing temperatures acted on opposite ends of the same crystal. Commercially it comes essentially from one deposit in eastern Bolivia.
Care
Keep out of prolonged sunlight to protect the amethyst zone.
History & lore
The Anahi Mine entered European awareness in the seventeenth century as a dowry gift to a Spanish conquistador, then was lost for three hundred years.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Ametrine
- What is Ametrine?
- A single quartz crystal zoned into amethyst purple and citrine gold, formed where differing temperatures acted on opposite ends of the same crystal. Commercially it comes essentially from one deposit in eastern Bolivia.
- How hard is Ametrine and what is it made of?
- Ametrine is a Quartz-family mineral with the composition SiO2. It crystallizes in the trigonal system and rates 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in purple, yellow.
- Where does Ametrine come from?
- Notable localities for Ametrine include Bolivia (Anahi Mine).
- How do you tell good Ametrine from filler?
- The prize is a crisp, straight boundary between saturated purple and clear gold, with both colors strong. Diffuse or pale zoning, and synthetic ametrine, are both widespread.
- How do you care for Ametrine?
- Keep out of prolonged sunlight to protect the amethyst zone.
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.