How Much Is The Amethyst Worth & Is It Truly Valuable?

Amethysts are one of the most well-known semi-precious, colored gemstones. This crystal is a type of purple quartz with color ranges from violet to purple. Hue-wise, this beauty ranges from the brightest shades to the most vivid and deep.

In this blog, we’re discussing everything you need to know about the types of Amethyst, how much the Amethyst is worth, and more.

The Amethyst is a vivid purple gemstone that’s mined in Brazil, South Korea, Russia, and Zambia. It’s also known as the birthstone for February and the Stone of Tranquility. The significance of this gem includes relieving stress and elevating inner calmness and patience.

While most quartzes are colorless, the Amethyst is formed with quartz in combination with iron impurities and fellow rock radiation. Most Amethysts are purple and should have a smooth surface that reflects light—similar to a gleaming metal.

At this point, you’re probably wondering “How much is the Amethyst worth?”

The Amethyst is the most valuable of the quartzes. Originally, this beauty was considered a rarity comparable to Sapphires, Diamonds, Rubies, and Emeralds. This was until the early 19th century when miners discovered large Amethyst deposits in Brazil. Now, the Amethyst value is still high—but with a more affordable price point.

Unlike some gemstones, the Amethyst is an extremely popular ornamental and decorative element. Although crystal clusters and geodes are now more common, they’re still a stunning sight to see. A majority of these decorative clusters originate from Brazilian and Uruguayan basalt flows. Contrary to popular belief, geodes up to one foot across are not considered rare. On the other hand, an extremely rare Amethyst geode is single and upwards of 20 feet across.

Size-wise, the crystal clusters and geodes are sold in wholesale and weight by Brazilian and Uruguayan mines. The way a geode or crystal cluster can increase in value is if the crystals skew larger. If there are chipped or damaged crystals within the cluster, this will drive down the Amethyst value.

What drives up the value for geodes is attractive formations like stalactites or calcite. This—combined with the size of the wholesale—yields a grade ranging from A-D, onward. Pending the grade, the Amethyst crystal price for wholesale purchases can range from $10 - $100 per kg.

The Polished Amethyst is chevron or banded and mixed with clear/white quartz. Known for its cost-effectiveness, it’s usually re-purposed in jewelry or decoration. Since the chevron banded Amethyst is mined from numerous worldwide locations, its commonality drives the price down.

While the Amethyst is a valuable gemstone, it’s also relatively affordable. There’s several factors that determine if it is more or less expensive. These determining factors are the 4 C’s: color, clarity, carat, and cut.

Coloration—hue, tone, and saturation—plays a big role when it comes to price. Of the variety of the Amethyst’s hues, the gemstones that are darker in color are more valuable. The exception is if the hue appears black in low light. While pay range isn’t exactly available, you should expect to pay between three-to-five times more for a darker stone versus a lighter one.

With color comes uniformity. If there are zones in the quartz (light and dark), it will not be as expensive as an Amethyst that’s uniform throughout.

This is another facet where the Amethyst crystal price varies. The most valuable purple quartzes are the ones that do not have any flaws or inclusions to the raw eye—also known as eye-clean. Usually, the Amethyst’s that are deemed rough are not used for jewelry.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Translucent Amethysts can be transformed into round-topped, polished shapes that are inserted into jewelry. On the lower quality side of the spectrum, gemstone beads are an inexpensive Amethyst jewelry purchase option.

In general, the larger the stone the more expensive it’ll be—right? Surprisingly, this is not the case when it comes to the Amethyst. Unless it’s a ginormous stone, you shouldn’t expect to pay more per carat than you would for the smaller Amethysts.

The principle with all gemstones is making sure that it’s cut properly. Round cuts such as round brilliant waste a lot of rough Amethyst material. Due to this cut’s high popularity and amount of gemstone wasted, this type of Amethyst jewelry will skew more expensive.

Oval cuts are a price-friendly option in addition to any shape that you’d expect to find for most gemstones. If you’re looking for something more custom at an ideal price point, there’s always the fantasy cuts options.

For authentic and gorgeous Amethyst gemstone jewelry, view our collection.

At Moon Magic, we firmly believe anyone fortunate enough to afford gemstone jewelry should responsibly give back. That’s why we donate to the charity TREES (“trees for the future”) for every single piece of jewelry purchased. To date, we’ve planted over 400,000 trees.