Purple, powerful and protective what is not to love about Amethyst! Our Pearl team here at Coleman Douglas Pearls certainly do! The birthstone for February is Amethyst – the purple variety of Quartz. The purple colour is due to natural irradiation and iron impurities and can range in hue from the palest lilac to deep purple, often with secondary colours of red and blue.
The name amethyst comes from the
Greek meaning “not intoxicated” and was believed to ward off drunkenness. Not only used in jewellery quite often amethyst was carved into drinking vessels to help negate the after effects of drinking! Amethyst also used to be regarded as a symbol of royalty and was regarded as highly as emerald, ruby and sapphire for its deep purple hue. It was also known as the bishops stone and is still worn by Cardinals today. Sadly its value declined dramatically upon
the identification of new deposits especially in Brazil.
We think the purple colouration is the perfect partner for our pearls and it is often featured in our jewellery. It is one of those stones that works perfectly with all pearl colours due to its pink/blue overtones picking out the natural colourful iridescence of the pearls. It would also appear that we are not alone with celebrities also embracing the amethyst pearl combination as seen in many European Royal tiaras, Katherine Heigl and Christina Ricci.
For more information on our pearl and amethyst jewellery please feel free to pop into our London pearl store in Beauchamp Place. Our team will be on hand to answer all your questions and show you our extensive stock. if you can’t find what you are looking for on the day we also offer a bespoke service where we can help you create the design of your dreams.
Pearls of Wisdom 
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