HPJ CONNOISSEURS PORTFOLIO: SENSATIONAL 7.29 CT VVS RIO GRANDE DO SUL DIAMOND CUT AMETHYST

  OUTSTANDING 7.29 CARAT VVS RIO GRANDE DO SUL RARE DIAMOND CUT LIGHT PURPLE AMETHYST

GEM TYPE: NATURAL AMETHYST

CARAT WEIGHT: 7.29 CARATS

DIMENSIONS: 12.00 x 12.00 x 9.00mm

CLARITY: VVS

CUT: DIAMOND CUT ROUND

TREATMENTS: NONE

Rio Grande Do Sul is best known to collectors, mineralogists and museum curators for the wonderful specimens of agate and amethyst that come from the amygdaloidal cavities in the huge basalt formation know as the Parana basalts. The mining of amethyst crystals are currently centered mostly around the little town of Ametista do Sul although much amethyst and agate is and has been mined from localities up to and further than 100 km away.

Purple Amethyst has been highly esteemed throughout the ages for its stunning beauty and legendary powers to stimulate, and soothe, the mind and emotions. It is a semi-precious stone in today’s classifications, but to the ancients it was a “Gem of Fire,” a Precious Stone worth, at times in history, as much as a Diamond. It has always been associated with February, the month the Romans dedicated to Neptune, their water-god, and is the traditional birthstone of that month. It is the stone of St. Valentine and faithful love, and signifies ecclesiastical dignity as the Bishop’s Stone. It carries the energy of fire and passion, creativity and spirituality, yet bears the logic of temperance and sobriety.

In the spiritual world, Amethyst provided a connection to the Divine. To the Hebrews, it was Ahlamah, the ninth stone in the breastplate of the High Priest, engraved with the tribe of Dan, as well as the twelfth foundation stone for the New Jerusalem. To the Egyptians, it was Hemag, listed in the Book of the Dead to be carved into heart-shaped amulets for burial. In Eastern cultures, it was listed in descriptions of sacred “gem-cities,” “trees of life,” and used in temple offerings for worship, and to align planetary and astrological influences. It was popular in rosaries and prayer beads, credited with creating an atmosphere of pious calm, imbuing a sense of mental peace and quietude.

For many thousands of years, the Amethyst, the most striking representative of the Quartz family has been a jewel coveted by Princes both ecclesiastical and secular. Moses described it as a symbol of the Spirit of God in the official robes of the High Priest of the Jews, and the Russian Empress Catherine the Great sent thousands of miners into the Urals to look for it.