Amethyst is the most highly valued and popular stone in the quartz group, and a great deal of 19th- and 20th- century jewellery contains the stone.
The name (from the Greek) means "not drunken", as traditionally amethyst was worn as an amulet to guard against drunkeness, although many other qualities were attributed to this stone in the 15th century.  (The power to control evil thoughts, quicken the intelligence and to render men shrewd in business matters!)

Fairly wide spread in terms of deposits, the most important being Brazil, Madagascar, Zambia and Uraguay, although India, The Americas and Russia also have deposits of some note.  The best stones are faceted. 

Formerly Amethyst was the favourite gemstone of High Officials in the Christian Church. Amethyst is sometimes confused with other stones (Beryl, spinel, topaz and tourmaline) and to make life even more difficult, synthetic amethyst is also abundant in the gemstone market, so buyer beware!

From a healing perspective, Amethyst is supposedly useful for Headaches and sciatica!

Colour:      Purple, violet, pale red-violet
Hardness:  7 mohs' scale
Symbolic:  Birthstone for February (Pisces)