February birthstone: amethyst

How to read it

Amethyst has been the birthstone for February since the 1912 list. The International Gem Society describes it as crystalline quartz ranging from pale lilac to deep reddish purple. It is a 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness, and GIA gives it as the traditional gem for the sixth wedding anniversary.

Also searched as: amethyst birthstone, birthstone for February, Feb birthstone.

Where the name comes from

GIA traces the name to the Greek amethystos, "a remedy against drunkenness", a benefit long ascribed to the stone.

On every old list

In 1913 George Kunz compared eight older birthstone lists: those of the Jews, the Romans, Isidore of Seville, the Arabians, the Poles, the Russians and the Italians, and one in use from the 15th to the 20th century. Amethyst appears for February on all eight, as topaz does for November and beryl for October; two of the lists also give an alternate, hyacinth or pearl.

Where amethyst is mined

GIA says Russia was the main source until large deposits were found in Brazil in the 19th century. Today the most important sources are in Africa and South America, among them Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, Bolivia’s Anahí mine and Zambia’s Kariba mine. In the United States, the Four Peaks mine, 74 km (46 miles) from Phoenix, Arizona, produces dark purple and purplish red crystals.

Citrine and lab-grown amethyst

Citrine, the November birthstone, is quartz too, and GIA says most of the citrine on the market is heat-treated amethyst. Lab-created amethyst, known since the 1970s, has the same chemical and physical properties as the mined stone; GIA says it can be very difficult to tell apart without advanced testing, and that merchants are required to say whether a gem is natural or synthetic.