Ametrine: Spinning Purple into Gold
Do you love both the purple of amethyst and the sunny gold of citrine? Are you a rabid Minnesota Vikings fan? I have the perfect gem for you! Sometimes amethyst and citrine colors are found in the same crystal of quartz. These bicolor yellow and purple quartz gemstones are called ametrine.

With ametrine, you can have both gem colors for the price of one! Ametrine is especially inexpensive when you consider that it comes from only one mine in the world.

The Anahi Mine in Bolivia is the major world producer of ametrine. The mine first became famous in the seventeenth century when a Spanish conquistador received it as a dowry when he married a princess from the Ayoreos tribe named Anahi. Ametrine was introduced to Europe through the conquistador's gifts to the Spanish queen.

Ametrine is most typically faceted in a rectangular shape with a 50/50 pairing of amethyst and citrine. Sometimes a checkerboard pattern of facets is added to the top to increase light reflection. Ametrine can also be cut to blend the two colors so that the resulting stone is a mix of yellow, purple, and peach tones throughout the stone. Ametrine is also popular among artistic cutters and carvers who play with the colors, creating landscapes in the stone.

Ametrine is a very durable gemstone suited for a variety of jewelry uses. Most sizes and shapes are available but the color contrast is most pronounced in sizes over seven carats.

So why compromise when you can have two varieties of quartz for the price of one!