Another look at Antique Amethyst Jewelry
#7170 
Superb Art Deco Amethyst sugarloaf ring
Since the ancient days of King David, about 1000BC, purple cloth was associated with royalty. During the Roman times, regular plebs like you and me might be put to death for the crime of wearing the color associated with the very upper, upper crusts. The Persians - ditto - associated the color purple with royalty and that was the color of the king's robes. This purple mania continued for centuries, right up to and past the period of the Renaissance.
Why was purple so admired and adored? Well, it was very, very expensive and rare. The only source of purple dye came from a snail, found in the vicinity of Tyre in today's Lebanon. There are competing gruesome and smelly stories of how the dye was actually produced, but suffice it to say that it took about 250 000 snails to produce 1 lb of dye. Source internet. There was no other way of wearing purple, so only the very rich could indulge.
#6954 
girandole set
It therefore comes as no surprise that amethysts were very highly valued. In fact, for centuries, amethysts were the ultimate gem, even more valuable than rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds. They were worn by royalty and later, by the upper clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
Synthetic purple was only produced in the 2nd half of the 19th century. It happened by accident when a scientist, searching for a synthetic alternative to quinine, thought to be the only treatment for malaria, produced a dark mess than eventually worked out well as a purple, synthetic dye. Prior to that, from about the 1500's, purple began to lose its cache.
Most people have forgotten the royal connotations of this color. Amethysts have not regained their place at the top of the gem-value pyramid. However, there is a definite interest of late in really good quality amethysts. While a pale, incipient stone sells for next-to-nothing, deep purple gems are highly in demand and fetch correspondingly high prices. As with most things in this world, it's quality that ultimately counts.
#6644 bangles. 
Let's take a brief look at the difference in these stones. Amethysts are found in many places in the world. You can find a piece of poorly made Hungarian jewelry that sports a variety of gems, including amethysts of a pale hue. Scottish jewelry, more valued for its nationalistic connotations than the gems, also often includes pale amethysts. Cheap jewelry, especially that made during the late 19th century will do the same. Watery and unimpressive. On the other hand, from the same period, you might be lucky to find a jewel with a deep purple stone. There is absolutely no confusing the two. Generally, the best amethysts came from the Ural Mountains in Russia and are referred to as Siberian amethysts.
I don't know whether the GIA has ever considered a test to determine the origin of an amethyst (as they can do with rubies, sapphires and emeralds), but we normally refer to these wonderful dark gems as Siberian amethysts. The description might be somewhat questionable in some cases, when a seller is trying to upsell an item, so you be the judge.
#6977 
On April 22 2021, the BBC reported that a tiny fabric of woolley cloth, dyed purple, was found by archaeologists and dated to 1000 BC, the time of King David. Everyone is agog with excitement. While we may not have come full circle, we are reminded of the place this exciting gem plays.
#6755 
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