Russian amethyst - my eternal dream...

[Arkteia]

That is how addiction starts.

All I was looking for was untreated, unheated, authentically Russian amethyst. Coming from Russia, not Africa or Brazil. They are called Siberian, although I believe they used to be mined in the Ural mountains. Now 1+ year later, I am sitting on a pile of expensive (very nice) jewelry, discussing be-treatment, re-certifying my stones with GIA... Still no amethyst! For sentimental reasons, I want one from Russia, and of good quality.

I planned to take a flight to Ekaterinburg to find if they had anything locally, but - this is comic! - most gems on the Russian market are coming from Thailand! Russian gems are shipped abroad (possibly, to Thailand?).

Any ideas? Short of going to Thailand? I could ask a local gem dealer to source out one at Tucson gem show but I do not know if Russian amethysts have any distinctive properties (inclusions?).

 

[T L]

Date: 1/5/2010 1:14:46 PM
Author:crasru
That is how addiction starts.

All I was looking for was untreated, unheated, authentically Russian amethyst. Coming from Russia, not Africa or Brazil. They are called Siberian, although I believe they used to be mined in the Ural mountains. Now 1+ year later, I am sitting on a pile of expensive (very nice) jewelry, discussing be-treatment, re-certifying my stones with GIA... Still no amethyst! For sentimental reasons, I want one from Russia, and of good quality.

I planned to take a flight to Ekaterinburg to find if they had anything locally, but - this is comic! - most gems on the Russian market are coming from Thailand! Russian gems are shipped abroad (possibly, to Thailand?).

Any ideas? Short of going to Thailand? I could ask a local gem dealer to source out one at Tucson gem show but I do not know if Russian amethysts have any distinctive properties (inclusions?).

I have an Afghan amethyst with lots of red flash that reminds me of the reddish color of the original, and now long gone, Ural deposit. If you like reddish amethyst, ask Gary Dutton of diamondexpert.com to source you a Four Peaks amethyst. They look very close to the Ural find. The Romanovs (the last royal house of Russia) were fond of amethyst jewelry. It was quite valuable back then.

 

[chrono]

I’ve heard that people are holding on to their true Siberian amethysts today, especially since they are none coming out of the ground anymore. If you aren’t tied to origin, the Uruguay amethysts come close and they have the same blue and red flash.

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you, TL. Stupid me, I did browse through Gary''s website, and his stones are wonderful, but I was cringing at "Twin Peaks, AZ" ( not exotic enough!). Shame on me! I shall get in touch with him.

I thought Catholic church was the forerunner in amethyst popularity. I just read a book about love affairs of the Romanovs. Here is an interesting piece: foreign princesses were not eager to marry into the Russian dynasty (you know...barbaric country). So most of the brides were coming from small kingdoms of yet-to-be Germany. At the first meeting, these potential brides were virtually lavished with diamonds, jewelry and firs. (I think there was a special fund for it). The temptation must have been hard to resist!

 

[Arkteia]

And thank you, Chrono. Your answer must have appeared when I was typing my message to TL, so I did not see it.

 

[T L]

I think the Ural material was supposedly very red, so in that case, I would probbaly look to Four Peaks before Uruguay, which is more blue with red flashes. However, both origins have beautiful stones. Just don''t buy any Brazilian material, it''s awful. I have a Zambian amethyst with a ton of blue, it looks like a tanzanite in some lighting. African material is more blue than red.

 

[T L]

BTW, forget the Russian material, it was completely mined out in 1910. You can only buy it second hand, and well, not too many people will part with theirs.

 

[Crystal keeper]

Yes, you will never find any old mine siberian amethyst unless you happen to stumble across some early 20th century vintage jewelry. or happen to pay off some russioan museum curator, LOL It''s just not around anymore and you will be really wasting your time trying to find some and then having it confirmed to be original siberian material. Yes, the czars and royal family''s had a thing for those purple beauties.

 

[Arkteia]

Since you guys know everyone in jewelry business - has anyone come across a "poor and hungry" Russian museum curator? Just checking...(LOL)

 

[Bella_mezzo]

ha-ha, can''t wait to see what you come up with from Twin Peaks

 

[StonieGrl]

Jack Lowell at Colorado Gem and Minerals has some of the best amethyst I''ve seen. He has 4 Peaks, Afghan, and Brazilian amethyst, and I thought he had some "Siberian" as well.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/13/2010 5:00:59 PM
Author: StonieGrl
Jack Lowell at Colorado Gem and Minerals has some of the best amethyst I''ve seen. He has 4 Peaks, Afghan, and Brazilian amethyst, and I thought he had some ''Siberian'' as well.

I was actually looking at his website yesterday.

 

[marcy]

I hope you find one - they sound like a dynamite color. My jewelry / gemstone quest began when I wanted a decent colored aqua ring - I kept getting distracted by anything else I found pretty and shiny.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/13/2010 10:54:34 PM
Author: marcyc
I hope you find one - they sound like a dynamite color. My jewelry / gemstone quest began when I wanted a decent colored aqua ring - I kept getting distracted by anything else I found pretty and shiny.

And did you find an aqua ring? Or are you still looking?