Amethyst, Dark, Natural, Faceted Off Round, One 10mm Strand

Amethyst, Dark, Natural, Faceted Off Round, 10mm, Strands are 15 to 16 inches long. 

10mm faceted off round strands have 30 to 32 pieces

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz which is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silicon and oxygen atoms and is the second most abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, behind feldspar.   It is transparent to translucent. Amethyst owes its violet color to natural irradiation, impurities of iron and in some cases other metals or trace elements.  It occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet color to a deep purple color.  Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue.

 The name comes from the Greek amethystos from "not" and methyo for "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness.  

High quality amethyst can be found in Siberia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Uruguay, and the far East. The ideal grade is called "Deep Siberian". Amethyst is produced in abundance in Brazil and Uruguay where it occurs in large geodes within volcanic rocks. The largest opencast amethyst vein in the world is in Austria. It is also found in South Africa, India, Canada and Zambia.

Amethyst occurs at many localities in the United States, in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Several South Carolina amethysts are on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Amethyst is the state gemstone of South Carolina. 

Hardness 7

 This is a natural stone that has had no treatment other than cutting, drilling, and polishing.

The source of these beads is South Africa and they are cut, drilled and polished in China.