Amethyst Identification

Jewelry Discussion
1

Detection of synthetic amethyst. It is not easy to detect
synthetic quartz, except possibly by transparency to UV light.

  1. When colour zoning is seen in quartz, it is probably of
    natural origin, but very broad, rather sharply defined colour
    zoning is typical of the synthetic material.

  2. Some of the early synthetic amethyst have a smoky tinge.

  3. The habit of synthetic quartz crystals is unlike that of
    natural quartz, with the largest face being a basal pinacoid,
    something rarely seen in natural quartz. A “cobbled” appearance
    is evident on the surface of many synthetic crystals. This is
    associated with imperfections within the crystals, and
    theorically provides a means of identifying quartz crystals even
    when cut. This effect may occasionally be seen with concentric
    overhead illumination, where light is directed onto the surface
    along the line of view.

  4. If the seed plate is seen, the crystal is certainly a
    synthetic.

  5. “BREADCRUMB” inclusions with occasional spiky ends may be
    seen near the seed plate.

Look for:

-breadcrumb inclusions,
-many stones are nearly flawless,but this is not a positive
proof,
-color zoning tend to be shades of purple and colorless but
again may be too subtle to use for positive identification.

2

Franscoise:

Thank you very much for your knowledgeable post about syn
amethyst. Where did this info come from? Secondly, you mention
transparency to UV being a characteristic of syn amethyst. Could
you elaborate? It seems I remember that some other synthetics
are also separable from natural based on UV transparency, and a
tester for such should be fairly easy to make with a piece of
scheelite or UV phosphorescent paper. I once heard of a
commercial instrument with a light meter in it to measure the
strength of the glow from the schhellite or whatever.