The name "amethyst" comes from the Greek and means "not drunken." This probably comes from the fact that water poured into a vessel made of amethyst would appear as wine and could be drunk with impunity. Scholars can find no “hard” evidence that they made cups from this material. It appears that the ancients confused amethyst with purple Almandine, an Indian Garnet. Historians have found drinking glasses made from this.

Amethyst ranges in color from pale lilac to a deep purple. Pale colors are sometimes called "Rose de France" and are seen in Victorian jewelry. The deep colors have a rich purple hue with rose flashes. These colors are unparalleled. We often compare other purple gemstones with its color and beauty. Although amethyst is always purple, it has a wide range of purple shades.

Purple a Royal Color:  Purple has long been considered a royal color so it is not surprising that amethyst has been so much in demand during history. Fine amethyst is featured in the British Crown Jewels, was the favorite of, Catherine the Great and Egyptian royalty. Leonardo Da. Vinci wrote that amethyst can dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the intelligence.

Because amethyst is said to encourage celibacy and symbolize piety, amethyst was very important in the ornamentation of Catholic and other churches in the Middle Ages. It is considered the stone of bishops. They still wear amethyst rings. In Tibet, amethyst is considered sacred to the Buddha and they often fashion rosaries from it.

The god Bacchus, offended at some neglect that he has suffered, was determined to avenge himself, and declared that tigers should devour the first person he should meet. Fate willed it that this luckless mortal was a beautiful and pure maiden named Amethyst, who was on her way to worship at the shrine of Diana. As the tiger sprang at her, she sought the protection of the goddess, and was saved from a worse fate by being turned into a pure white stone. Recognizing the miracle and sorry for his cruelty, Bacchus poured the juice of the grape as a libation over the petrified body of the maiden. Giving to the stone the beautiful violet hue that we see today.

Care of Amethyst:  They require no special care other than to keep your gems from heat. Heat will lighten darker Amethyst, but it usually requires temperatures above 212 F. There are verified reports of sunlight fading amethyst. If for some reason your gemstones should be placed next to radioactive material, they may darken.

Enhancements: Many labs play with amethyst. It is a safe bet that citrine, ametrine and prasiolite have been heat treated to some extent. Even darker amethyst could be treated to make it clearer. Treatment will last the life of the gem.

Imitations / Synthetics: In the summer of 1999 they have estimated that about 25% of all gem quality amethyst on the market is fake. The newer synthetic amethyst cannot be detected with standard tests. One lab in the country claims that they can, but they will not share the technique.

I personally do not feel this a problem with amethyst beads. There is just not enough profit in it. One of the easiest ways to check for fakes is to look for banding and impurities in the stones. People that make fakes try do a better job than mother nature.

Bibliography: 

• The curious lore of precious stones - Author Kunz, George Frederick, 1856-1932.
• Gem identification made easy - Matlins, Antoinette Leonard.
• Gems: Their Sources, Descriptions and Identification - By Robert Webster, Peter G. Read (Editor).
• Gemstone Enhancement: history, science and state of the art - by Kurt Nassau.
• Gemstones of the world - Walter Schumann ; translated by Evelyne Stern.

A Disclaimer:  Effort has been made of including information that is found in at least two sources. I can make no claim on the accuracy of this information. I am not a Geologist or Gemologist. I make no guarantees and infer no warranties. For more information, please refer to the bibliography.

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Copyright Information.:  Although I have included a bibliography, but no attempt has been made to give credit to individual passages. If you are an author and feel that I have infringed on your copyrighted material please let me know. With that in mind, all material and information, retain their respected Copyrights.

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I encourage the reader to pursue the further study of any topic that they find particularly interesting. A good place to start is your local library.