Amethyst tea light holder 10 cm, made of real crystals that are shaped into a fantastic eye-catcher.

Amethyst is a violet variety of the mineral quartz (SiO2) and is the most sought-after stone from the quartz group. Etymology: The name comes from the Greek αμεθυστoς (amethystos). Amethyst was already known to the Egyptians, Etruscans and Romans, and Pliny the Elder already described amethyst. In ancient China, small gems were cut from amethyst. In the Middle Ages, amethyst was also highly valued in Europe. It was called bishop's stone, because it used to be a popular gemstone for church dignitaries, and it was said to have magical powers. It was the symbol of lovers, the stone of temperance, protector against sorcery and witchcraft. Jacob van Maerlant explains that the stone drives away drunkenness. It has been assumed that the Greek name would mean "against intoxication": one would not get drunk from wine drunk from a cup made of amethyst. Origin: metamorphic, hydrothermal, alluvial deposits. The crystals always grow on a substrate. The prisms are often poorly developed and therefore the crystal points of spit amethyst predominate; here the colour is also the most powerful. These parts are knocked off, that is, broken off for further use. By firing at a temperature between 470 and 750 degrees, light yellow, reddish brown, green or colourless varieties are created. There are amethysts that gradually fade in daylight. The original colour can be restored with radium irradiation. The colour is caused by iron in combination with ionising radiation. Amethyst is less beautiful in artificial light. Occurrence Brazil was already proud of its amethyst deposits in the Middle Ages; they are mined in Bahia, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso, among other places. Recently, the so-called ametrine has been mined in Bolivia, an amethyst-citrine, in which the violet and yellow colours alternate, but the transition between the colours is sharply defined. Amethysts are also known in the United States, namely in Montana, Maine, Georgia and Arizona. Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, India, Myanmar, Japan, China and Korea, and Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Congo and Australia are also important producers. In Russia, amethyst is found in the Urals, Yakutsk and on the Kola Peninsula, among other places. Amethysts are also found in Armenia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Ireland. Amethyst only rarely forms larger, pure crystals. The British Museum has a unique cut stone of 343 carats. Other, smaller stones weigh less; they usually come from Brazil. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. even has a cut amethyst from Brazil weighing 1,362 carats and one from North Carolina weighing 202.5 carats. Amethysts are often used in state jewels, such as Catherine the Great's scepter and the British crown scepter.