Help. Korean Amythests

[MarineCorpsSki]

Hello Everyone. My name is Phillip and I am new here. Stumbled on the site looking for info on "Korean Amythests". I am stationed in Seoul Korea and Itaewon is like a 5 minute walk up the street. I was there browsing all the shops for whatever and noticed the over abundance of Amythests, in all shapes, sizes, colors,- set and loose. Both my wife and I are Aquarians and have the Amythest as our birth stone, we find it beautiful and I am realizing that this place could be dangerous to my wallet. I have some questions though. Please advise/ help.

Are Amythests really mined in Korea?

If so, how is the quality of the stone here?

Ways to tell Created from real. I''m thinking of obvious inclusions, but a lot of the stones I''ve seen here are very clearwith beautiful color and I''m told they are real. Definitely a price diffrence from what I''d see in San Diego. I''m worried about getting taken to the cleaners out here ( I know about bootleg/ fake stuff here in Itaewon, as well have read in other posts on this board).

 

[RevolutionGems]

Hi Phillip,

Though Korea is not necessarily known as an amethyst producer, amyethyst is one of those stones that occurs just about everywhere. That being said, I would be a little wary of the material in the market.

A couple of things to look for:

Is all the material the same color? If it is, it is probably lab grown. Natural material will have some color variance from stone to stone.

Is the price too good to be true? If the stones are offered at unbelievable prices, it is probably lab grown. In spite of the fact that you are purchasing stones in a forign country, they know the value of the stones and will not sell them cheap if they are truly quality stones. This is not to say you can''t get good deals but keep your head about you. Too good to be true is too good to be true whether it is in the US or in KOREA. YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

There has been a flood of lab created amethyst, citrine and ametrine in the market lately. The easiest way to tell is large sizes that are essentially flawless at unbelievable prices, outstanding color and, in the case of the ametrine, perfect division of color. The biggest giveaway on this material is the consistency of the color. As mentioned before, natural material is not that consistent.

Good luck! I hope this helps.

 

[Richard M.]

Korean amethyst from Eonyang is quite famous. From what I can learn the mine is mostly depleted and has been turned into a tourist attraction. Most of the stone you''re seeing is probably imported from Zambia or Brazil to capitalize on tourist sales.

Detecting modern synthetic amethyst can''t be done even by most gemologists. It''s a job for gemological labs with more sophisticated equipment. That''s impractical because the tests cost more than the stones do. There''s a lot of it on the market. One of the best clues is displays of loose gems that are exactly the same color with no inclusions. It''s not truly scientific but genuine stones will have small color variations and will usually display some natural inclusions as well as color zoning. The synthetic is just too perfect.

Richard M.