YAN Gemstones – Amethyst
The Gemstone
Amethyst known for it’s famed royal purple colour is a quartz crystal family member prized for it’s beautiful rich colouring. Seen as a symbol of affluence and prestige by ancient royalty, a protector of clear mindedness in ancient Greek culture and an aide to purity of purpose by the Church this is a gemstone that many ancient peoples believed carried an air of the spiritual and divine.
Displaying overall purple hue varying from lighter violet to deeper purple the most prized amethyst crystals are those known as “Deep Russian” or “Deep Siberian” stones – these gemstones have deep purple colouring with an additional blue hue and delicate secondary red reflections from their faceted faces.
Natural amethyst is very rarely so monotone in colour grading, most natural amethyst shows a colour zoning where the crystal ranges from transparent or lighter purple to the deeper purple colours it is famed for. Found around the world this quartz crystal member is excavated from typically small quarries where the best amethyst of a stable colour gamut and less evident colour grading is cut into fine gemstones to be mounted and displayed, other sources of Amethyst include crops of Amethyst found in South American geode deposits and open sources in North America.
As Amethyst can be sourced from around the world as opposed to being priced by carat as many other precious stones are the better amethyst examples are heavily graded according to their colour gamut and their colour zoning, the sought after stones will resemble the most desired Deep Russian Amethyst in that they display rich purple colouring with blue hue and no varied colour grading.
YAN Amethyst
The present examples of Amethyst in YAN Jewellery’s collection are beads of a deep purple colour, they are natural in origin showing crystalline faces within the crystal and other natural artefacts though the the purples are mesmerizing and well matched with the designs they are used within.
We present three examples of relevant designs broadly cover three colour ideas used in YAN jewellery.
In the first example the much lighter violet coloured amethyst supports the softly imbued purple colouring of the lavender quartz while with the addition of the blue lustre and grey base palette of the central moonstone pendant combining together to produce a colour gamut also within the range of the purple overall tone.
The first example though broadly lying in a single tone shows off the colourful natural style of YAN while subtly bound to a cohesive range of violet and purple colours.
Our beautiful second example shows the black filigree of rutilated quartz supporting the deeper colouring of our more typical purple crystals, in this design the central bead acts as a focal point set off by the transparent quartz surround while supported by the darker elements of embedded natural rutile inclusions ensuring that though the difference in tone across the design is striking it is also well supported.
A more typical fashion design is the use of various colours to convey beautiful image and grace, this colourful tourmaline bead necklace uses the natural colour of the tourmaline to embed the deeper colours of the crystal within it’s design while the silver leaf elements act to add the elegance and air that is so typical and so natural to the style.
YAN design in our few examples covers some of the striking design features that are so evident to her design from a single glance, we look forward to using more beautiful amethyst to enrich the palette of design in the future!
Fashion and YAN design.
Amethyst has become a go to crystal in the fashion world due to it’s beauty, evident use in matching with colour and upon it’s own striking colour hue, it’s reasonable cost even when faceted in large carat gem and it’s prevalence as a well known and much loved jewel as a gemstone, geode or as a crystal is even so much that some prefer amethyst to diamond or other precious stones.
Striking examples of faceted amethyst are popularly worn as metal chain pendant necklaces matched often to silver colours that accentuate the purple colour of the gem while inset earrings in silver surrounds matching the necklace produce greater effect when colour matched to clothing.
As these crystals are often found in larger carat sizes than many gems, novelty faceted stones such as heart, star and ring or even natural rough pieces set into metal fixtures are used to show off the beauty of the gem, amethyst by itself alone is often seen as beautiful enough to carry image and presence.
Queen Alexandra’s amethyst tiara is an example of a lavish setting of plush Russian deep purple gemstones gifted and set into a silver mantel showcasing the deep purple and supported by smaller surrounding semi precious stones.
From our own collection a lavish costume jewellery suggestion is layering gemstone jewellery to add colour and panache as beautiful as any English princess!
This above example showing our blue lustred grey moonstone with supporting peach pink cherry blossom and green strawberry quartz necklace and bracelet set.
Beaded amethyst necklaces carry all the colour of faceted gemstones while at the same time more harmoniously blending and contrasting with supporting gemstone types and colours, our current range of necklaces show that while the amethysts themselves are just as beautiful a gemstone by themselves they are also a capable colour and design element of our designers palette, enriching the character of all the distinctive YAN designs that they imbue.