Just contemplate amethyst's brilliantly gorgeous purple color, mixed with cheap price ranges over a wide variety of sizes and forms. Amethyst is such an engaging crystal form, the ancients assumed the amethyst to be a precious stone worthy of gracing royalty. The practice of royal purple persists even today.
Modern discoveries of enormous amethyst deposits in Russia and Brazil have increased accessibility and kept pricing in really affordable levels for even fine grades of amethyst. Amethyst is popular in every type of jewellery and is particularly appealing to folks who were born in Feb, since amethyst is February's birthstone. Especially favored are amethyst rings and amethyst necklaces, though other types of amethyst jewelry abound. Specimens, starting from small clumps of crystals up to a complete geode are highly popular to both collectors and as uniquely natural decor accents.
Plenty of the world's best amethyst crystals are cropped from geodes without regard for their last use. Geodes are enormous natural pockets of crystals within bigger pieces of hollow stone. A geode can hold anywhere from one or two oz. to hundreds or thousands of pounds of crystals. The following few paragraphs will help you to understand how geodes come to be and how they get to you.
Mother Nature's Part Almost all amethyst geodes began life when a volcano exploded. As the lava flowed to the surface, gas pockets were entombed in the solidified lava, sometimes in a form of volcanic rock called basalt. Deep below the solidified basalt, Mother Nature continued to maintain a very hot molten lava structure. From time to time, super-hot fluids would rise from the molten lava area and find their way to the gas pockets thru little crevices and gaps in the basalt. These liquids carried with them the mineral parts to build a stunning crystal.
Over millions of years, Mother Nature would sometimes do many cycles of this super-hot, mineral carrying liquids inundation process. Dependent on the precise mineral composition of the liquids at various times, many colours of crystals and indeed different mineral crystals might be formed. Very often, the quartz that forms in a geode could include large quantities of clear or milky white quartz as well as the purple amethyst. Less often, wholly different kinds of crystals can be made on top or inserted in the quartz most often this comes in the shape of fascinating, accenting crystals of calcite. Customarily the calcite crystals are clear or white, but now and then they are a extremely attractive hue of pink.
Where on Earth Are the Geodes Found? In principle, geodes can be discovered anywhere on earth where volcanos helped shape the earth's crust. Volcanos are critical mountain range builders, and most existing sources of geodes are in or near mountains. For amethyst, some of the most significant deposits are found in South America. A big area in southern Brazil contains large basalt structures, many of which contain geodes of varying qualities. Brazil is easily the biggest exporter of amethyst geodes by volume. Across the border in Uruguay, a much smaller area contains important deposits of some of the world's absolute best coloured amethyst geodes. Also close by, in eastern Bolivia, there are 1 or 2 mines that contain amethyst deposits that include cavities with huge crystals. It is unrealistic to extract these large crystals in complete geodes due to the massive amounts of rock involved, but from time to time clusters or individual crystals extracted from those structures make their way to the USA.
So How Did Man Extract the Geodes? Extracting geodes is a well refined mining process. Although the process involves heavy hardware and explosives to reach geode making areas in the basalt, all the main work involves a serious dose of manual work. The geodes are first exposed through mining efforts. The basalt is removed revealing the shape of a geode in the floor, wall or ceiling of the mine. The next step is to examine the interior of the geode to figure out if the crystals are of high enough price to pay for the manual effort needed to take the geode. This is most frequently done by cutting an inconspicuous hole in the geode and inserting a tiny light and viewing device. That resembles a flexible periscope.
If the crystal is an ordinary color like milky white quartz, the geode will be bypassed and frequently demolished in successive mining efforts. If the crystal is amethyst of a good colour, then the geode will be manually chipped out of the basalt a little at a time. This process can need days of work for a single geode. Once the geode has been removed from the base basalt, it is then carried to a workshop some distance from the mine. This typically involves the use of a wheel barrow to manually remove it from the mine itself, and then a wagon, narrow gauge rail car, or van to carry the piece to the workshop.
At the workshop any remaining basalt is removed and the geode is cut open to show the crystals. Frequently geodes are of a broadly columnar shape. These will be cut vertically along the longest portion of the geode. These pieces are then prepared as a form known as a cathedral. The geode at this initial stage has an exteriors layer that contains many sharp lumps of the base level of the quartz. These are dangerous to both the employees and to the final client. To bypass the attendant danger of cuts, the geode is coated in a thin layer of cement to cover the sharp points. The cement is then normally painted with a flat black color to enhance the aesthetics of the purple amethyst crystals. If the piece is to be displayed as a cathedral there will probably also be a little fill of cement at the bottom of the piece to form a level structure on which to stand the piece. Any remaining pointed quartz points along the entrance to the geode are then polished to a smooth surface for both appearance and safety reasons.
Infrequently, the crystals will be of such top of the range the geodes will be displayed on steel stands. This is often true with geodes from Uruguay, which is world famous for the phenomenally rich deep color of its amethyst.
How Do the Geodes Get Delivered? Geodes are heavy. A single cathedral that stands 40 inches or so tall, will sometimes weigh over 100 pounds. They're also vulnerable to breakage. Remember the geode is a relatively thin outside of quartz with a huge empty space inside. This structure makes the geode vulnerable to breaking, especially when exposed to the shipping process... Which often feels like it pulls all of the world's 800 pound gorillas.
To protect the geodes, they are individually packed inside of wooden crates. Crating costs are comparatively cheap in Brazil where hundreds are made for a single shipment to the USA. These crates are built for a single use and shipped strapped together to combine the strength of all of the crates. In the States, crating costs of $200-300 for a 40 inch geode. It is quite common for a galley to have a made to order crate for a single geode to the final client. This does not include the price of shipping the piece, which varies a lot based mostly on distance and the delivery type on the receiving end where residential costs more than commercial, and white glove delivery inside the office or home is more expensive than curbside delivery in your driveway.
How To Choose the Best Amethyst? The short sort of this is based solely on superbly good looks! Top of the range amethyst makes for extraordinarily interesting jewelry pieces, little examples and small to large geodes that are acceptable for use as exquisite accents in your home or office decor. The dramatic good looks make a choice for only exceedingly high quality amethyst a great decision. Brazilian geodes of the highest qualities, have great colour and little normal colored quartz in their bases. These geodes are good selections if you want to add a dramatic piece to your decor. Very high quality Uruguayan geodes make even more dramatic choices when they can be sourced. These are typically shown on polished steel stands. Uruguayan amethyst has some of the best color of any amethyst found on earth.
Modern discoveries of enormous amethyst deposits in Russia and Brazil have increased accessibility and kept pricing in really affordable levels for even fine grades of amethyst. Amethyst is popular in every type of jewellery and is particularly appealing to folks who were born in Feb, since amethyst is February's birthstone. Especially favored are amethyst rings and amethyst necklaces, though other types of amethyst jewelry abound. Specimens, starting from small clumps of crystals up to a complete geode are highly popular to both collectors and as uniquely natural decor accents.
Plenty of the world's best amethyst crystals are cropped from geodes without regard for their last use. Geodes are enormous natural pockets of crystals within bigger pieces of hollow stone. A geode can hold anywhere from one or two oz. to hundreds or thousands of pounds of crystals. The following few paragraphs will help you to understand how geodes come to be and how they get to you.
Mother Nature's Part Almost all amethyst geodes began life when a volcano exploded. As the lava flowed to the surface, gas pockets were entombed in the solidified lava, sometimes in a form of volcanic rock called basalt. Deep below the solidified basalt, Mother Nature continued to maintain a very hot molten lava structure. From time to time, super-hot fluids would rise from the molten lava area and find their way to the gas pockets thru little crevices and gaps in the basalt. These liquids carried with them the mineral parts to build a stunning crystal.
Over millions of years, Mother Nature would sometimes do many cycles of this super-hot, mineral carrying liquids inundation process. Dependent on the precise mineral composition of the liquids at various times, many colours of crystals and indeed different mineral crystals might be formed. Very often, the quartz that forms in a geode could include large quantities of clear or milky white quartz as well as the purple amethyst. Less often, wholly different kinds of crystals can be made on top or inserted in the quartz most often this comes in the shape of fascinating, accenting crystals of calcite. Customarily the calcite crystals are clear or white, but now and then they are a extremely attractive hue of pink.
Where on Earth Are the Geodes Found? In principle, geodes can be discovered anywhere on earth where volcanos helped shape the earth's crust. Volcanos are critical mountain range builders, and most existing sources of geodes are in or near mountains. For amethyst, some of the most significant deposits are found in South America. A big area in southern Brazil contains large basalt structures, many of which contain geodes of varying qualities. Brazil is easily the biggest exporter of amethyst geodes by volume. Across the border in Uruguay, a much smaller area contains important deposits of some of the world's absolute best coloured amethyst geodes. Also close by, in eastern Bolivia, there are 1 or 2 mines that contain amethyst deposits that include cavities with huge crystals. It is unrealistic to extract these large crystals in complete geodes due to the massive amounts of rock involved, but from time to time clusters or individual crystals extracted from those structures make their way to the USA.
So How Did Man Extract the Geodes? Extracting geodes is a well refined mining process. Although the process involves heavy hardware and explosives to reach geode making areas in the basalt, all the main work involves a serious dose of manual work. The geodes are first exposed through mining efforts. The basalt is removed revealing the shape of a geode in the floor, wall or ceiling of the mine. The next step is to examine the interior of the geode to figure out if the crystals are of high enough price to pay for the manual effort needed to take the geode. This is most frequently done by cutting an inconspicuous hole in the geode and inserting a tiny light and viewing device. That resembles a flexible periscope.
If the crystal is an ordinary color like milky white quartz, the geode will be bypassed and frequently demolished in successive mining efforts. If the crystal is amethyst of a good colour, then the geode will be manually chipped out of the basalt a little at a time. This process can need days of work for a single geode. Once the geode has been removed from the base basalt, it is then carried to a workshop some distance from the mine. This typically involves the use of a wheel barrow to manually remove it from the mine itself, and then a wagon, narrow gauge rail car, or van to carry the piece to the workshop.
At the workshop any remaining basalt is removed and the geode is cut open to show the crystals. Frequently geodes are of a broadly columnar shape. These will be cut vertically along the longest portion of the geode. These pieces are then prepared as a form known as a cathedral. The geode at this initial stage has an exteriors layer that contains many sharp lumps of the base level of the quartz. These are dangerous to both the employees and to the final client. To bypass the attendant danger of cuts, the geode is coated in a thin layer of cement to cover the sharp points. The cement is then normally painted with a flat black color to enhance the aesthetics of the purple amethyst crystals. If the piece is to be displayed as a cathedral there will probably also be a little fill of cement at the bottom of the piece to form a level structure on which to stand the piece. Any remaining pointed quartz points along the entrance to the geode are then polished to a smooth surface for both appearance and safety reasons.
Infrequently, the crystals will be of such top of the range the geodes will be displayed on steel stands. This is often true with geodes from Uruguay, which is world famous for the phenomenally rich deep color of its amethyst.
How Do the Geodes Get Delivered? Geodes are heavy. A single cathedral that stands 40 inches or so tall, will sometimes weigh over 100 pounds. They're also vulnerable to breakage. Remember the geode is a relatively thin outside of quartz with a huge empty space inside. This structure makes the geode vulnerable to breaking, especially when exposed to the shipping process... Which often feels like it pulls all of the world's 800 pound gorillas.
To protect the geodes, they are individually packed inside of wooden crates. Crating costs are comparatively cheap in Brazil where hundreds are made for a single shipment to the USA. These crates are built for a single use and shipped strapped together to combine the strength of all of the crates. In the States, crating costs of $200-300 for a 40 inch geode. It is quite common for a galley to have a made to order crate for a single geode to the final client. This does not include the price of shipping the piece, which varies a lot based mostly on distance and the delivery type on the receiving end where residential costs more than commercial, and white glove delivery inside the office or home is more expensive than curbside delivery in your driveway.
How To Choose the Best Amethyst? The short sort of this is based solely on superbly good looks! Top of the range amethyst makes for extraordinarily interesting jewelry pieces, little examples and small to large geodes that are acceptable for use as exquisite accents in your home or office decor. The dramatic good looks make a choice for only exceedingly high quality amethyst a great decision. Brazilian geodes of the highest qualities, have great colour and little normal colored quartz in their bases. These geodes are good selections if you want to add a dramatic piece to your decor. Very high quality Uruguayan geodes make even more dramatic choices when they can be sourced. These are typically shown on polished steel stands. Uruguayan amethyst has some of the best color of any amethyst found on earth.
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We invite you to view our existing offerings in our Touchstone Galleries in Santa Fe, Scottsdale, Sedona and Taos, or online at touchstone-gallery.net Sedona location is at present offering a stunning Uruguayan amethyst geode for sale.. This geode weighs in at over 1,400 pounds and is a deep, rich purple. Touchstone also offers a good range of amethyst cathedrals and amethyst jewelry for sale at its locations in New Mexico and Arizona.
