Ametrine, the perfect purple of February

Yes, it’s Feburary again. For Sydneysiders it’s synonymous with heat, humidity and of course, Mardi Gras. For gemmologists though, February is all about purple, lilac and mauve gems as opposed to Mardi Gras costumes – because February’s birthstone is amethyst. For the uninitiated, amethyst is a variety of the gemstone, quartz. Its sister stone, citrine, is the yellow variety of the same stone. And more exotically, stones which exhibit both purple and yellow are known as ametrine.

We have numerous examples of amethyst and citrine in store, both unset and set into jewellery, always – because both stones are readily available and great value compared with more expensive gems like tourmaline, sapphire and ruby. And best of all, at the moment we also have a spectacular 40ct emerald cut ametrine. Rare as rocking horse s**t but a steal at $1,190. The perfect pendant piece for any aspiring drag queen dancing away the night in the Hordern Pavilion perhaps?

We hear also that the NY DJ Frankie Knuckles who’ll be playing his deep house tunes has a weak spot for ametrine too. Perhaps it’s the mix of gems to accompany the mix of tunes? Makes sense to us.